Learning charity

Little hands have reached out in a big way this Thanksgiving Day. For several years, Moran Prairie Elementary School teacher Alice Peterson has asked her second-grade students to donate the holiday’s traditional foods – from a turkey to cranberry sauce – for a Thanksgiving meal at the Ronald McDonald House. Her idea for giving has spread this year. Two other Moran Prairie second-grade classes made holiday decorations for the charity, and many of Peterson’s 25 students did chores at home as a way to “buy” the food.

“We’re doing it to help the parents who have sick children at the Ronald McDonald House feel a little happier,” explained Meghan Palmer, one of Peterson’s students who, with her class last week, created paper turkey centerpieces for tables.

The children made the turkeys using brown paper bags for bodies, cardboard rolls for the necks, and heads of construction paper. Signs around the turkeys’ necks read, “Have Mercy,” and the students wrote thankful phrases on a rainbow of tail feathers.

“This is for the Ronald McDonald House because there are people who are sick and their children are sick,” added Zachary Jensen.

“They’re not coming home for Thanksgiving.”

The students also wrote messages in notecards to the families who use the charity’s housing in Spokane when a child requires long-term medical care or a hospital stay.

“My wish is for your children to be well again,” Emily Knight wrote in her note.

Peterson has done the project each year at least in part to honor a former student and his mother. The mother had died suddenly from leukemia right before Thanksgiving.

Later that year, to help the young boy through Mother’s Day, Peterson and the class became involved in helping the Ronald McDonald House.

“For Mother’s Day, the students all brought gifts, and they wrapped them and did cards, so we did that as a way to have him involved,” Peterson said. “After that, the following year we got involved with Thanksgiving just by chatting with them about their needs.

“I thought it was something young people could continue to do as a way to reach out to others.”

Many of her current students eagerly describe what they’ve done to help. Zachary Jensen and his two friends even decided to go in together to buy the turkey.

“I teamed up with Max and Quinn,” said Jensen. “I was raking leaves and Max was raking leaves, and for every bag of leaves we did, we got $2.”

“Quinn, he was taking out the trash, and he got $3.”

According to Max Wagner and Quinn Parrish, the chores were actually kind of fun.

“I’m going to start mopping the floor,” added Parrish. “We’re trying to save up for $20, but I think we’re over it.”

Wagner even decided to donate a little extra to the pot, which he got from losing a tooth.

“I lost a tooth and got $2,” Wagner explained. “I didn’t have anything to do with it, so I just put it in there.”

Peterson said she usually shows the children a video explaining the Ronald McDonald House.

“A couple of them get teary-eyed,” she said. “Kids have very giving hearts.”

She sends a letter to parents suggesting that the children can choose to do a few chores if they want as a way to help pay for the Thanksgiving items.

“A lot of our kids are blessed with all the basics, and sometimes it’s nice for them to take ownership of the contribution,” Peterson said. “This is something they can do.”

“The kids can sign up to bring certain items. Then one day, they bring all the supplies in, and a parent takes them to the Ronald McDonald House.”

Kathie Vlahovich, Ronald McDonald House operations director, said usually about 40 people are served a traditional Thanksgiving meal around 4 p.m., thanks to the school and to volunteers who try to make the dinner as homelike as possible.

“It’s a traditional meal with all the decorations,” Vlahovich said. “They come here after a long day at the hospital, and it does seem a little bit like home.”