Mt. Pleasant Middle School Kindness Club aims to make an impact near and far

MT. PLEASANT - The Kindness Club at Mt. Pleasant Middle School are hoping to continue helping the community and spreading kindness as they gear up for their annual food packaging day.

Going into its fourth year, teachers Kendra Ruschill and Jeremy Klopfenstein, who usually organize the charitable event in collaboration with local food relief organization Take Away Hunger, have handed off the reins to their students.

Ruschill said the event encourages students to think beyond themselves. Though middle schoolers may be prone to complaining about doing work, the teacher has noticed in years past that they quickly get on board with wanting to do good in the world.

'You get this middle school grumble, but it doesn't take long for them to get caught up in the impact of what they're doing. Then they quit from being a complaining middle schooler to being a super-helper,” she said.

However, this year, there hasn't been a single grumble from the students of the Kindness Club, who have been busy spreading the word about their group and what they aim to do.

Emma Gantz, a seventh-grader, said the goal of the club is to 'encourage everyone to be kind in their actions and words.”

As a group, the students have volunteered their time with outdoor community work, helping to rake leaves and wash windows, as well as made items for the district's annual PTA Kid's Christmas shopping and visited the residents of Park Place Care Center with Valentines.

'I like helping people. I really liked when we went to Park Place and seeing the people there get so happy and knowing we were the reason,” Gantz said.

Now the group is focused on fundraising for their food packaging event, which will take place in late April or early May.

Seventh-graders Savannah Slobodnik and Aurora Hummell explained the food the students package will go toward those in need from natural disasters across the United States. Since the event began four years ago, the school as a whole has packaged 299,500 meals.

'Our goal this year is to package 60,000 more meals,” Slobodnik said.

'It's helped a lot of people around the world get food,” Hummell said. In years past, the food the school has packaged has gone to countries around the world, including several in South America.

To meet their goal, the group needs to raise $15,000, of which the group has already raised $1,400.

'We've been selling T-shirts that say ‘Kindness is Contagious,'” seventh-grader Kayleigh Montgomery said of one way the group has been fundraising. As the weather continues to grow warmer, the students are again looking for opportunities to help the community with outdoor chores.

Seventh-grader Joselin Tojin-Perez said the club is hoping to help community members with gardening or yard clean up.

'I think it's cool that our club not only helps people [across the country] with the food packaging but also here at school and in our local community,” Tojin-Perez said.

The middle schoolers have also sent out and signed letters to local businesses asking for support for their event and have successfully attracted the interest of several people including Jennifer Lehman from Country Financial. The insurance agent, who visited the club after receiving the letter, said she was impressed by the effort the students put in to make the event a reality.

'Middle schoolers who want to do something good in the world is something we can get behind. It's important for two reasons. It's important for the food packaging and helping people in need. But also that middle schoolers are the middle man here, they're leading this,” Lehman said.

Lehman added that she felt supporting the cause is important because it allows students to see the world through a different lens.

'They see the world as more than their own little set of problems, they're getting to see there's need in the world and they can make a difference,” she added.

Those interested in supporting the Kindness Club and their food packaging event can reach Kendra Ruschill or Jeremy Klopfenstein at kendra.ruschill@mtpcsd.org and jeremy.klopfenstein@mtpcsd.org.