In February, for our Social Studies/Utah History, the girls learned about how Utah was shaped by the immigrants that came here (of all backgrounds) and how complex that history can be. We continued the discussion by talking about how immigrants are still coming to Utah seeking a better life for themselves and their families and how some of those immigrants are actually refugees, people leaving their home country because it isn't safe for them there.
These sweet nine and ten year-old girls immediately asked if they could do a fundraiser to help these Utah Refugees. The next couple of weeks were busy and so we decided on March 19th for the fundraiser date. These girls took the initiative and planned what they wanted their fundraiser to look like and be like. They made posters and flyers and delivered them to 180+ houses in our surrounding neighborhood.
On Saturday they hosted a fundraiser and donation dropoff where they sold cookies, hot chocolate, bath bombs, and jewelry. They sold the Swig cookies for $1 more than the purchase price, but the bath bombs and jewelry were donated by people in the neighborhood who wanted to support their cause and the Crumbl cookies were donated by the Lehi location to support.
I went into it hoping that we'd sell the 50 cookies that we bought and make $50 to donate. More than anything, I wanted this to be a good experience for them and I tried to facilitate that while letting them do the work. I was blown away by the community support they received. Partly we just live in a great neighborhood. Partly they put in the effort to deliver fliers and tell anyone and everyone to come to their fundraiser.
I was blown away and they were thrilled when they counted up their money/donations and realized that how successful they had been.
It was an incredible learning opportunity for them. Over the next week or so, they continued the project. She and her friends counted up the money that they made: $577 dollars. They subtracted out the cost of the cookies ($107) and then took their total amount to the bank to deposit. ($470). They deposited the money, then went to the store to buy supplies for All Purpose Kits to donate to the Utah Refugee Connection.
They filled four giant shopping carts filled with laundry detergent, Clorox wipes, dish soap, and other supplies to bring home and assemble into kits. Not only did o buy supplies they also had a donation box where people donated supplies. Wendy Rencher collected supplies in her neighborhood as well for a Relief Society Fundraiser and it was great to connect with her to make the fundraiser even more successful. They worked together to make 47 kits!
We loaded up all the kits into our van and delivered them to the Utah Refugee Connection Center. The girls got to see the center and talk to some of the people that work there about what they do and the good that they accomplish in the community.
This was such a neat project and a great illustration of how homeschooling can be so impactful in the lives of these children. Okay, if I'm being completely honest - this is something that you could do whether or not you are homeschooling. In fact, this is the epitome of a successful "Children and Youth Goal" goal for the new church program. Child-led, parent supported. But homeschooling gave us the time and structure to make it happen and it was wonderful.
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