Submitted by Denair Unified School District

Like many good deeds, it started with a small idea.

“What if we do something nice for someone else for Christmas?” campus supervisor Melissa Oei asked her Denair Middle School safety patrol students in October. The sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders brainstormed some worthy causes – help out an animal rescue organization, or donate to a church or homeless shelter. Then Oei suggested adopting a family in need.

“The kids just jumped,” she said.

Step one: Goal identified. But what next?

Oei reached out to Sierra Vista Child and Family Services, a respected nonprofit agency that operates the Hughson Family Resource Center. Oei asked the staff in Hughson for families in the Denair area. Her students, she said, specifically wanted to help single-parent households.

Privacy restrictions prevented the agency from identifying the families, but two were quickly selected:

• Kelly, a mother raising a 4-year-old daughter and 2½-year-old son
• Mark, a father with an 8-year-old boy and a 5-year-old special needs son

The 28 safety patrol students went to work. They voted to each donate $5, but that quickly morphed into family and teacher involvement as more people became aware of the cause.

Oei said one student received $120 for his birthday and immediately gave $20. A girl baked cookies and sold them to her friends and relatives. A Denair teacher contributed two $50 gift certificates. Families gathered “gently used” clothes for the children. A local church donated wrapping paper. Continue reading “DMS Safety Patrol Helps Families in Need” »