by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Thirty-four children walked away happy from Resurrection Lutheran Church in St. Joseph last weekend with new clothes, shoes, backpacks, school supplies and books, and some of them even sporting new hair cuts.
The event, dubbed “Kids Connect,” was a way to get children and their parents ready for the new school year.
“Our purpose,” said organizer Amber Wiese, “is to defray back-to-school costs and to promote children’s self-worth so every child is valued and feels good about themselves as they start school this year.”
Many people put in a lot of work to gather supplies and make the event successful. A huge room at Resurrection church was filled with tables on which stacks of good-but-mostly-used clothing were arranged by sizes. Another table held storybooks.
Children, according to their needs, could choose their own clothing and a book or two. Then they were given backpacks, pencil boxes, cell phones with 200 free minutes on each one donated by Life Wireless. And, if needed, children could get their hair cut free, thanks to a volunteer from Cedar Street Hair Salon. Coborn’s donated a $25 gift certificate given away to the winning name drawn from a box.
“Kids Connect” took place for a few hours Friday, Saturday and Tuesday night (after this story was written). Anybody was welcome to come to the event, with no income eligibility required.
Besides Wiese, other helpers included Michael Volgman-Mercuri of Sartell and Catherine Maland of Sauk Rapids, both with KUMON, a math-and-reading testing and assistance center; Meg Schrafft of the Twin Cities; Theresa Farell of Rapid City, S.D.; and Sabrina Schultz of LaCrosse, Wis. The latter three are students at the College of St. Benedict who were donating their time via the Bonner Program, whose members commit themselves to activities for social justice and leadership development.
Wiese, who has lived in St. Joseph for nine years, had participated in several projects through Resurrection church and Gateway Church. Most people know there is a need to help the less fortunate at Christmas time, Wiese said, but too many forget there is a year-round need to help people, including just before the start of school each year. That is why Wiese decided to start the Kids Connect event.
By providing some clothes and school supplies, Wiese and others involved with Kids Connect are hoping that will free up some families’ money to spend for other school necessities.
The volunteers enjoyed the excitement and smiles on the children’s faces when they had a chance to pick out their own back-to-school items.
Most of the clothing came from a woman in Monticello who donated 50 bags of them from her “For Kids” shop. Local churches and garage sales also contributed to the success of Kids Connect, Wiese noted.
contributed photo
Onyx and Kaya Deschon of St. Joseph are pleased as punch with their back-to-school items they received from Kids Connect held last weekend at Resurrection Lutheran Church in St. Joseph.
contributed photo
Shaina Poepping of Cedar Street Hair Salon in St. Joseph cuts the hair of Morgan Wiese at a back-to-school event at Resurrection Lutheran Church last weekend.
photo by Dennis Dalman
It took several organizations and many volunteers to make last weekend’s Back to School event a success at Resurrection Lutheran Church in Sartell. Some of the volunteers included (from left to right) Sabrina Schultz, Theresa Farell, Meg Schrafft, Michael Volgman-Mercuri, Catherine Maland (holding Amara Wiese), Dominic Wiese and Amanda Wiese (holding Morgan Wiese).