For children at Park Lakes Elementary School
Pencils and crayons
Notebook, copy, and construction paper
Other supplies or teaching materials appropriate for elementary school
To contact Simple Gifts:
Call Pat Grauer at (517) 353-0616 or write grauer@msu.edu
This month’s request comes from an elementary school teacher, Joel Osborn, who works at Park Lakes Elementary School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. The school, its teachers, its 1,200 children and their parents are facing very difficult challenges. Fully 98% of the kids are on the federally assisted breakfast and lunch program, a standard measure of the poverty level in a school. There has been little money for books and supplies from the school system, and teachers have been so desperate they have been purchasing basic materials out of their own pockets. A drive among parents resulted in about two months’ worth of material. Joel says that anything we can do to assist will make an enormous difference for their instruction. They particularly need pencils and crayons, notebook, copy, and construction paper, and any other school supplies or teaching materials appropriate for elementary school children.
As always, please leave your Simple Gifts in the designated baskets of the elevator lobbies of East and West Fee, in the PR office at A306 East Fee, or in designated areas at MSUCOM at the Macomb University Center or the Detroit Medical Center. And as always, thank you so much for your generosity, particularly at this time when so many people need assistance.
Your PR Team,
Pat Grauer, Craig Reed, Ann Cook, Meghan Tappy and Nicole Genaw
Your Simple Gifts generosity has provided:
September 2009: 1,334 items, including colored pencils, markers, paper and coloring books, to help the Malawian children with cerebral malaria treated by our Department of Psychiatry.
July-August 2009: 453 items, including small toys, picture books for learning English, baby supplies and children's underwear for the refugee families treated by our faculty and students at the Ingham County Health Department.
June 2009: 153 articles of gently used clothing, OTC drugs, tennis shoes and toiletries for medical missions and for healthcare partners of MSUCOM’s Institute of International Health.
May 2009: 207 items of Tums, toothbrushes, toothpaste and sunblock to support MSUCOM’s Peru Medical Mission in August 2009. A team of second-year medical students and local physicians travel to Peru to provide free medical care to hundreds of residents in a town in the Andes Mountains.
May 2009: 35 medical texts to the A.M. Dogliotti School of Medicine in Monrovia, Liberia, in cooperation with the Institute of International Health.
April 2009: 400 items – including 55 brand-new colorful towels and washcloths – for our drive for Simply Smiles, an organization that provides bright futures for impoverished children in Oaxaca City, Mexico.
March 2009: Nonperishable food items to help the Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club to fill backpacks with food so Lansing elementary school children can eat on the weekends. More than 90% of the kids in these three schools are eligible for free school lunches.
February 2009: 239 clothing and personal care items for N Street Village in Washington D.C. and 77 medically related items for Angel Notion in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
January 2009: 414 items—cat food, dog food and pet toys—for Pet Support in Lansing.
December 2008: For the Angel House in Mason, 414 personal care items for children in crisis, including combs and brushes, toothpaste and toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner, and body wash.
December 2008: 13 fleece vests, 1 fleece jacket to Sault Ste. Marie/Bay Mills reservation
November 2008: New toys for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots program, in conjunction with a drive held by MSUCOM Classes of 2012 and 2011.
October 2008: 62 items for disaster relief efforts of the American Red Cross Livingston County
August–September 2008: 618 school-supply items for the Farm of the Child, an orphanage in Honduras, the poorest country in Central America
July 2008: 149 nonperishable food items for the Mid-Michigan Food Bank, run by the American Red Cross, at a time when food supplies were particularly low in our community.
June 2008: Personal care items and snacks to support the work of Open Door Ministry, a downtown Lansing organization which provides support to the homeless, including food, showers, laundry, and a gathering place.
April-May 2008: To support the Liberian Beach Patrol, hundreds of plastic bags and 327 items – including kites, beach toys, Frisbees, and balls – to be used as prizes for children working together to create a safe and clean area in which to play in an impoverished section of war-torn Monrovia. Thanks
February and March 2008: Donations of 327 books to Reading is Fundamental’s book sale. RIF will use the proceeds to provide new children’s books to students in the Lansing area.
January 2008: To support American troops, 141 items – including video games, CDs, phone cards, toiletries and snack – to Soldiers’ Angels.
December 2007: A “second harvest” of 56 food items for the Greater Lansing Food Bank, which provides both meals and groceries to tens of thousands of persons in the capital city area.
November and December 2007: In conjunction with the Classes of 2010 and 2011 and other MSUCOM student organizations, new unwrapped toys to support the Marines’ local Toys for Tots program.
October and November 2007: 308 bath towels, wash clothes and personal care items for St. Vincent Catholic Charities, who support more than 10,000 needy persons each year in the Lansing area.
September 2007: 101 items, including canned goods, biscuit mix and disposable tableware, for the Southside Community Kitchen, which prepares hundreds of free hot meals at Christ United Methodist Church for needy Lansing residents each week
August 2007: 284 Backpacks, packs of pens and pencils, notepaper, notebooks, protractors, compasses and other school supplies for children in Atani-Arochukwu Village, Nigeria, through Dr. Margaret Aguwa’s program
June and July 2007: Twelve bags of paper towels, tissues, toilet paper and ingredients for baking cookies for McRee House, Ingham Regional Medical Center’s home away from home for families of severely ill patients.
May 2007: For Joe and Shirley’s Place, which offers a home for those recovering from alcohol and drug addiction in Lansing, 126 items of household linens, including beautiful sheet sets, comforters and duvets.
April 2007: For those victims of domestic violence housed at MSU Safe Place, 150 household articles and clothing.
March 2007: Pencils, pens, crayons, colored pencils, compasses, coloring books or puzzles supporting the efforts of our students' International Health Project to help Angel Notion, which provides education, medical aid, and opportunities for people of lesser means and special needs in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.
February 2007: Supported the efforts of MSUCOM students to help those who are patients at the Friendship Clinic for the homeless. Items included socks, hats, gloves, scarves and toiletries.
December 2006 and January 2007: Nearly 300 hats, gloves, mittens, scarves, blankets and quilts – many of them handmade – to support alumna Kathleen Kleinert’s clinic for the poor in Detroit
November 2006: Prison in Harrison, Arkansas - Hundreds of packets of hot chocolate and men’s socks for prisoners
September-October 2006: Hospitals in Sierra Leone and Liberia - Medical texts and supplies
August 2006: Ronald McDonald House, Lansing - 120 grab-'n'-go snacks for families of hospitalized children
July 2006: Christmas in July sponsored by SOMA to support the Greater Lansing Food Bank - More than 160 foodstuffs
June 2006: Soaring Unlimited, Cap Haitian, Haiti - 590 pencils for schoolchildren and more than 1,000 bars of soap for impoverished families.
May 2006: Tutwiler Clinic and Outreach, Tutwiler, Mississippi - 662 items, including medications, office supplies and clothing for alumna Sister Ann Brooks’ clinic and “bargain barn.”
April 2006: Baby Pantry of Owosso - 199 blankets, quilts, diapers, formula, toys, clothing and other baby supplies
March 2006: Hurricane victim relief: 75 personal care and food items; and MSU Student Food Bank: 205 food and personal care items.
February 2006: Cristo Rey Community Center, Lansing, Michigan: Nearly 100 personal care items, including shampoo, deodorant and detergent.
January 2006: Baby House #57, Moscow, Russia, sheltering orphans aged 0 to 5 years: 1,076 items including: 381 stuffed animals, 115 other toys, 259 articles of clothing, 182 personal care items, 51 blankets (several hand-made), 20 coats, 5 pairs of shoes, 4 backpacks and 59 diapers!
December 2005: Support for 17 MSUCOM students traveling to offer assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims; numerous items of food, new clothing, toys, household goods and medical supplies
November 2005: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, the poorest county in the United States. 342 items, including 128 pairs of gloves and mittens, 132 hats and 82 warm scarves |
