MPMS in need of donations for a day of paying it forward

Mt. Pleasant Middle School is in need of monetary donations and volunteers to help with 'pay it forward” activities including food packaging, community projects and the sixth-graders' annual water walk on May 23 and 24.

Middle schoolers will package at least 66,000 meals, complete numerous service projects around the community and raise $1,500 to purchase one well in a country lacking clean water sources, with a water walk. This will be the third year the middle school participates in meal packaging, with a goal of packaging over 300,000 over the course of three years.

'This year, we decided it's not so much about the quantity of meals packaged, it's about the quality of interactions our students have with adults,” said Jeremy Klopfenstein, teacher at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. 'I want teachers, volunteers and our community investing in our kids. As kind of a happy accident, we're going to produce a lot of meals for other people.”

This is the third consecutive year the middle school has partnered with Take Away Hunger, meaning that current eighth-graders have been a part of packaging 300,000 meals over the course of their time at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. In April 2018, students packaged meals over three days, received donations from 36 businesses, individuals and organizations, and had 218 volunteers work alongside students.

While one meal packaged through Take Away Hunger costs only 25 cents to produce, it adds up. To complete the meal packaging this year, the middle school has a goal of raising $16,500. Any additional money will go toward purchasing another water well.

'It takes an enormous amount of money,” said Kendra Ruschill, a teacher at Mt. Pleasant Middle School. 'The kids were really impressed last year that this community helped them out financially. This isn't doable without monetary donations, whether it's a person, an organization or business. It really is going to an amazing cause. We just need to get the word out that it takes some donations.”

Klopfenstein said that while people in the community may not be able to volunteer to package meals themselves, they can send $20.

'Kids understand that the $20 came from someone so they can do the work. It's more than just money,” Klopfenstein said.

Students have also been in a competition to fill the most jars with coins and have been making and selling brownies to raise money for meal packaging.

With this being the third year of food packaging, Klopfenstein said it is beginning to become a routine. When Hurricane Florence hit the cost of North and South Carolina in September 2018 as students were returning to school for the 2018-2019 school year, Klopfenstein said they asked how they could help. The same thing is happening as tornadoes ravage Arkansas and central U.S.

'They're becoming more aware of global events and how they can help,” Klopfenstein said.

'The kids' mind-set shifted from thinking, ‘This is a lot of work,' to ‘This is really rewarding,'” Ruschill said. 'They are getting exactly out of it what we were hoping they would - that it just feels really good to help. It's teaching kids that everything you do big or small can make a difference.”

The middle school is also looking at additional service projects and ask that anyone who has an idea or a need contact the middle school. Klopfenstein said they already have groups going to nursing homes to play music for or games with the residents; to the elementary schools to read with the younger students or spread mulch in gardens; and to Parks and Rec to pick up sticks and clean up trash.

'That takes a bulk of our kids, but if the community has other ideas, they're welcome,” Klopfenstein said.

Finally, sixth-graders will be doing their annual water walk on May 24, to raise $1,500 to purchase one well. Students have been raising money over the course of the school year, Ruschill said.

Eventually, Klopfenstein hopes that students in clubs like the Gilmore Givers, who dedicate their club time to volunteer in the community, will begin taking over the planning process of 'pay it forward” days.

'We want it to be more student-led, student-focused and student-centered,” Klopfenstein said. 'The purpose of the clubs is for kids to learn non-academic things that will be beneficial to them as adults. This is right where we need them to be.”

To donate, checks can be dropped off or mailed to the Mt. Pleasant Middle School at 400 North Adams Street in Mt. Pleasant, preferably by May 10. Checks can be made payable to Mt. Pleasant Middle School. The middle school asks that a return address is included so a receipt can be mailed.