Hull Prairie Intermediate School goes Global to Give Back
Hull Prairie Intermediate School students have been studying what it means to be immigrant, a refugee and an internally displaced person (IDP) and ways in which they can help.
Since 2014, the country of Ukraine has been challenged with IDPs flooding the cities after Russia annexed areas of Ukraine; and people from Northwest Ohio have been pitching in to donate clothing, coats and shoes as well as funds to help ship the items.
The Great Lakes Consortium for International Training and Development, the World Affairs Council of Northwest Ohio and the Anastasia Fund, a foundation which dedicates its efforts to humanitarian support in Ukraine, spearheaded the relief effort. U.S. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and her family started the foundation, and she came to help with the packing and to give a short presentation on the current situation in Ukraine.
Two Hull Prairie Intermediate School students also pitched in. Lindsay Hubaker and Autumn Brosnan, who are current sixth-graders, decided to go a step further than donating and helped pack items as well. Lindsay was very instrumental in motivating other students to donate, which resulted in approximately 500 items from HPI.
One of their teachers, Bill Hilt, who teaches social studies, also lent a hand. Mr. Hilt had traveled to Ukraine last summer to meet with officials from Caritas, a Christian charitable organization assisting with relief efforts in Ukraine. In the city of Kharkiv, Mr. Hilt was able to meet with Bishop Stanislav, the Bishop for Eastern Ukraine and get a first-hand account of the situation with IDPs and see how previous donations from northwest Ohio were being distributed.
This effort resulted in twenty-one boxes of items being packaged and shipped. It may take up to two months for the boxes to arrive. “This was a great way to help kids ‘think global, and act local,’” said Mr. Hilt.
Posted: Tuesday, May 22, 2018