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Haiti Relief Efforts

Date: 04/01/2010
Time: 8:45 AM

Haiti Relief:

Community service has always been a core part of the curriculum at Washington Montessori School and the recent tragedy in Haiti created a situation where students really connected with the needs of others due to the vastness of the disaster and the constant media coverage.  WMS students and families came together days after the event and planned many different fundraising opportunities to help the ravaged community. 

The middle school students donated their net revenue of $112 from their school dance to Partners in Health.

The Upper Elementary students organized a well received bake sale that raised $1077 for a Montessori school in Port-Au-Prince. 

A middle advisor group put together a used book sale that raised $558 for Americares. 

The parents Earthteam got involved and organized a coin drive which raised over $900 for International Medical Corp and another Haitian ministry that delivers medicine to the country. 

Annie Endicott, a parent at WMS, is collected over the counter medications and money for a group of volunteers who are going down to Haiti on February 19th. They are part of a team that works with the Haitian Ministry. Annie is coordinating with Rita Kessing, RN, MBA, CRNI, winner of the Florence Nightingale Award for Nursing Excellence 2009 and she is traveled to Haiti in February.

The final project was a clothing drive organized by Charlotte Dibb and her mom.  The donations filled several cars and they will be given to the Healing Children organization. 

Students benefit in many ways during community service – they learn the joys of giving of themselves, the value of volunteerism, and a sense of compassion. It is an important part of the education of the whole child, a core belief in the Washington Montessori environment.