by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Two Sartell fifth-grade students have been honored as runners-up in the United Way “Live United” Essay Contest.
The students are Nolan Smith of St. Francis Xavier Elementary School and Daniel Zacher of Sartell Middle School. They are two of the 14 area-wide students named as runners-up in the contest, for which 350 essays were received from throughout central Minnesota. Each will receive a $75 VISA gift card.
The grand-prize winner was Breanna Stueve, a student at All Saints Academy, St. Cloud. She received a $200 VISA gift card.
About two months ago, United Way of Central Minnesota partnered with US Bank and Times Media to sponsor the contest for fifth-graders. Each student was asked to describe in a short essay how they, personally, “Live United.”
The following are the winning essays:
Nolan Smith:
“Hello, my name is Nolan. Do you wonder how I live United? I live United by helping my neighbor Lorraine. She is elderly and lives by herself. In the winter I shovel her driveway and her porch. One of the reasons I do this is so she does not slip and injure herself. Also, I do it to help in the community and be a better person. When I help Lorraine it makes me feel good inside. Living United is a great way to help out in your community and help others in need.”
Daniel Zacher:
“I live united by helping a Korean family. We help the Mom, Dad, and three kids. We invite them over to have meals. We took them to the Minnesota History Museum. I help the kids by playing tag, nerf gun wars, making them popcorn and watching their favorite movies with them. At my church we can give things to the children in poor countries in a Samaritan Shoebox. My brother and I give toys, flashlights, clothes, crayons, markers, socks, hats and gloves! I learned that by showing a little kindness to people, we can live united as a world.”
Breanna Stueve:
“Hello! My name is Breanna. I live united by collecting food for the food shelf in my great-uncle Randy’s name. He died of cancer. Every year my family and I collect 8,000-10,000 pounds of food and cash donations in his memory to feed the hungry. I also use my allowance to fill two boxes with personal items and toys for ‘Operation Christmas Child’ for kids in need around the world. Helping others fills my heart with love and joy! If everyone did one thing to help those in need, we could make the world live united.”
Nolan Smith
Daniel Zacher
