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Cary Christian fights hunger, gains perspective
CARY - Gongs, cheers, footfalls, talking and laughing. The Cary Christian School gym buzzed like a beehive during the school's annual Stop Hunger Now event.
In partnership with Cary-area Rotary clubs, 810 students spent April 23 packing 115,000 meals to be shipped to places such as Zambia, Haiti, Zimbabwe and Tanzania - places many students can only imagine.
Stop Hunger Now Raleigh Coordinator Terry Brown said Cary Christian School was the only school in the area to dedicate the entire day and all students to the effort.
"We wish we could have more schoolwide events," Brown said.
With all the fun and excitement, it might be easy to forget that the meals go to feed people who have little to nothing to eat. Cary Christian School aims to remind students how lucky they are.
"Many Christian schools take kids to Europe," said Gene Liechty, marketing and development director. "But students need to learn to give back, to sweat in the sun. We need to show we're being grateful for everything we've been given and share our blessings with others."
Instead of Europe, last December 53 CCS seniors traveled to Costa Rica, helping with Sunday School and playing with children at an orphanage. Through programs such as Soles4Souls, high school students handed out clothes and shoes to children.
One boy admired the shoes Jamie Lemon, 18, was wearing. "We couldn't find his size," Lemon said. "... He liked mine, so I gave them to him."
Theology teacher and trip chaperone Dell Cook said he hopes students carry the lessons around with them long after they return to Cary. "In Costa Rica, they had their eyes opened by nature. When we get home, it's easy to get into 'blinder mode.' We pray and hope that when students go on to college, they remember what they experienced."
The Costa Rica trip was life-changing for Breck Buster, 17. "The kids were so open and happy, even though they didn't have much," she said. "I came home, saw my big-screen TV and started crying." The experience helped her decide to enter a nursing program after high school.
CCS junior Katrina Wertz will not attend the senior trip until this coming November. But as president pro tem, she has spearheaded charity efforts through the school's Interact Club. She and 80 other students in the high school participate in the club.
Although they are only required to do two projects a year, Wertz has organized far more. For their international project, students made 20 blankets by hand and collected 24 others to send to Ghana with a Duke medical relief team. They collect clothes for the needy for the With Love From Jesus program.
And one program Wertz is most proud of is a pilot project with Iglesia Cristiana de Cary. Interact Club students spent every Monday evening and Saturday morning in April tutoring younger students from the church, from kindergarten through sixth grade.
"Only about 59 percent of Hispanic students in North Carolina graduate high school," said Wertz. "And 90 percent of adults are not fluent in English."
When Wertz first began the project, she was nervous. "We really stepped out of our comfort zone. But the kids are so excited when they get things right. It rejuvenates me for school, too." She uses flash cards for math and asks students to run from one end of the room to the other before they answer. If they get the answer wrong, they have to do a push-up. Tutors also use hangman to help with spelling.
Wertz said the program was so successful, they plan to extend the tutoring through May. Beyond helping the children, she said she learned organizational skills. "It has taught me how much is involved in starting a program, which is a good life lesson."
Other faith-based schools in the area get students involved in service projects too. St. Michael School calls its program "Light the World" and asks each grade level to choose one or more projects to reach out.
St. Michael School Principal Sarah Wannemuehler echoed the sentiments of Liechty. "From kindergarten on, we want to instill the idea of service. We are very blessed - what can we do to help?"