Elegant Child Raises Dollars For Katrina Relief
The Elegant Child, an early learning center located at 513 Strecker Rd. in Wildwood, decided to cancel its annual Fall Carnival in September and raise money for Hurricane Katrina relief instead. During the week of September 19-23, students, teachers and parents donated what they could to three money jars and silent auction in the school to raise money for the Red Cross. "They have the Fall Carnival every year to benefit St. Anthony's Food Pantry, but the owner and directors felt it would be better to raise funds for the hurricane victims as well", said Marketing Manager Jennifer Petrowsky.
They canceled the carnival, but The Elegant Child did not forget about the people in St. Louis who still need help too. They held a food and necessity drive in conjunction with the money drive so they were still able to make their yearly donation to St. Anthony's Food Pantry. Along with its usual 200 families a week, the pantry has also seen a tremendous influx of people in need as a result of the hurricane's despair.
"We are holding the two in conjunction with each other because the Hurricane Relief is not more important
than St. Anthony's Food Pantry," explained Petrowsky.
There was certainly no lack of spirit in the fundraising that week as students and teachers donated to the funds jars in order to participate in Hat Day, Red, White and Blue Day, Bring Your Favorite Stuffed Animal to School Day and Wear Your Favorite Sports Shirt Day. Throughout the week, teachers has the option of making a $2.00 donation to wear Jeans for the day.
"We're trying to incorporate the kids and the teachers," said Petrowsky. "It's never too early to teach children philanthropy and community service. Our families here are so generous."
In addition to the money jars, funds were also raised through a silent auction in the main building in which parents, teachers and friends of The Elegant Child donated items such as gift sets, golf balls and sports memorabilia.
"It's been amazingly successful," said Director Kathy Wolfe. "These parents have particularly good hearts and really like to make a difference." Wolfe said the most exciting part, however, was to see the children get involved. "You can tell there's excitement with them-that they get it. It's great for them to have an awareness that there are kids at other school's without their favorite toy or their favorite blanket."
The Elegant Child concluded its fundraising activities at 4:00 p.m. September 23rd. It is one of two national and state-accreditied schools in Missouri and teaches children from six weeks to six years of age.
