Students raise over $1,200 for Open Door Mission
and Bethany House by spending the day in tents
A group of local students got a taste of what it would be like if they were homeless – and it was their idea. Seven third through eighth graders who receive before and after school care at Ruth Blodgett’s Hilton home were bored one day when Blodgett challenged them to find a project that would help others. “The kids had a day off during Thanksgiving week and asked me what they could do that would be fun,” said Blodgett. “Instead of waiting for people to amuse them, I told the children that they should be thinking of ways they can do for others.”
Tanner Matthews, a sixth grader at Village Elementary School, and Cole Dean, a sixth grader at Quest Elementary School, came up with an idea for helping the homeless after Cole commented that people with a roof over their head and a car are probably better off than 95 percent of the world.
Once the students decided that they wanted to help the homeless, Christina Wessman, an eighth grader at Merton Williams Middle School, took the idea and ran with it, making lists of people to ask for donations and the supplies they would need.
The group decided that they would spend a Saturday outside, no matter what the weather, living in tents with only a fire to keep warm. They gathered donations from family members, friends, teachers and local businesses, raising over $1,200 so far for two organizations that help homeless in the community – the Open Door Mission and Bethany House.
The Open Door Mission, located on Plymouth Ave. in Rochester, provides overnight housing for men, community meals for men, women and children, and religious services. Bethany House in Rochester is a Catholic Worker House of Hospitality that provides emergency housing for women and women with children, and assistance to women with food, formula, diapers, clothing, household items, and personal hygiene products.
“We watched a video about a tent city in Nashville, TN that was ruined by a flood,” said Logan Matthews, a third grader at Village Elementary School. “Some people were mad because they didn’t want it set up again near them.”
The group borrowed tents and sleeping bags for their own tent city from Mandy and Paul Tramonto and Beth and Jon Jamison, family friends. While they could use the indoor bathroom, they had no access to electronics and spent the day, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., making forts, playing cards, listening to the radio, singing and playing games. At lunchtime, they had a simple meal of Ramen noodles and rolls.
“This was only a day, but it gave us an idea of what it is like to be homeless and how we are fortunate to have the things we have,” said Cole.
Christina related the experience to Christmas when so many kids want expensive gifts and think they don’t have enough, putting things like flat screen TVs on their Christmas lists. “Homeless people hardly even have clothes,” she said.
Blodgett, who has been babysitting some of the children since they were infants, said she’s hoping to do the event again next year. “Our goal was to raise $500 and the kids far surpassed that,” she said. “I’m very proud of them.”
Photos by Grace Griffee
