Westlake Special Needs Students Raise $1,000 For Guiding Eyes Charity

Hungry to help those in need, Westlake special needs students from Lee Burneson Middle School devised a creatively delicious plan.

The kids raised $1,000 selling dog biscuits at $3 a bag, which they then donated to charity Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The concept stemmed from an idea by their Intervention Specialist Erin Blahnik, who was looking for a charity project the kids could take part in.

“We started the project as a way to get them more involved in the community,” Blahnik told Patch, “and we were looking for a way for them to give back and help people.”

The class consists of four students and is self-contained, while most of the students are non-verbal.

Blahnik emphasized that this was mainly an effort on the kids’ part, as they were involved in everything from counting the amount of biscuits for each bag, collecting money and printing and labeling the bags.

“Another big goal was practicing life skills, so the students took part in every aspect of the project, all the steps in the process.” Blahnik said. “The kids worked really hard throughout the whole thing.”

The kids presented a check for all the money raised to Guiding Eyes on Friday, a charity that provides service dogs for the blind and children with autism. Blahnik, meanwhile, found that the greatest reward came not just from the money raised but from the experience as a whole.

“Seeing the reaction from the community and people around the district. We had an overwhelming response,” Blahnik said, “and the kids getting to know the people we were helping was really great for them; making new friends."