By Abigail W. Adams
After School Adventures participants hold handmade ornaments that will be sold to benefit the Feed Our Scholars program and the After School Adventures scholarship fund at the Wiscasset Community Center Tuesday, Dec. 2. Rear row from left: Madison Westrich, Ellery Downing, Linnea Anderson, Sadie Yeaton, and Angela Haggett. Front row from left: Eva Whitmore, Kassidy Burton, Kailee Lackie, Delaney Withers, and Lucy Jones. (Abigail Adams photo) |
Participants in the After School Adventures program have spent the last month turning homemade clay into ornaments to benefit the Feed Our Scholars program and the Wiscasset Community Center scholarship fund. Those ornaments are now ready for sale.
“I feel proud that we’re doing a good deed,” said Angelina Haggett, a participant in the After School Adventures program. Kassidy Burton and Lucy Jones also said they felt proud about the work they had done.
The After School Adventures program had made ornaments in previous years and sold them to support the program. This year, however, the ornaments were made with the intention of supporting others.
“With the holiday season, we wanted to incorporate more community service into the program and use the sale of the ornaments to benefit others,” Heather Jones, After School Adventures program director, said.
The 100 ornaments made at the After School Adventures program will be sold for $5 apiece at Ames, Rock Paper Scissors, the community center, The Bank of Maine, and the holiday bazaar at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Wiscasset.
“I think it’s wonderful that children are reaching beyond themselves to help other children,” Gretchen Burleigh-Johnson, chair of the Feed Our Scholars program, said. The Feed Our Scholars program delivers backpacks filled with nutritious food to area schools that then distribute them to students in need.
The program has been in existence for two years and has already distributed many backpacks. “We do it so students are less stressed and better able to learn,” Burleigh- Johnson said.
In addition to the Feed Our Scholars program, proceeds from the sale of the ornaments will go toward the Wiscasset Community Center scholarship fund so low-income residents have access to community center programs and activities.
“I’m excited about this,” Jones said. “I hope we have enough support from the community to sell the ornaments, so we can provide something to these programs.”
The pride expressed by the children who made the ornaments indicates that the process was a success in itself. “It was a lot of fun,” Linnea Anderson said, “and I feel good about myself.”
