Self-governing Opstad fifth graders send aid to Haitian children

Published 1:06 pm Monday, May 7, 2012

Fifth grade students in Ileen O’Leary’s class at Opstad Elementary held a bake sale on Thursday, April 19. The lunchtime event was a fundraiser for the children of Haiti.

One of the fifth graders’ parents had gone to Haiti to volunteer and visited the classroom recently to share her story. She talked about the devastation of the country after a 2010 earthquake.

The class is currently practicing self-government and decided unanimously to hold a bake sale for the children of Haiti.

The money will go to a group working with children and families in Furcy, a country town outside the capital city.

Apparently many people had to move in with relatives after most of the structure in Port au Prince were destroyed in a Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake.

Furcy is a poor community without sanitary drinking water, or indoor plumbing. Water must be carried up a steep hill to the town by the people for drinking, cooking and washing.

The fifth graders decided to place jars in various business around North Bend, which will be collected at the end of May.

Between the bake sale, donations, and the classroom collections, they earned $340 so far.