Pennypack Kicks-off Projects to Help the Homeless

HATBORO---Pennypack Elementary School’s theme for the 2018-2019 school year is “The Power of One.” Students are learning that each and every person has the potential to have a positive impact on others. To reinforce the theme, the school has organized two projects in conjunction with Hatboro-Horsham High School Guidance Counselor Marcey Varano and members of the high school’s Interact Club. Varano and her students introduced the projects to Pennypack students at a November 1, 2018, assembly.

The first project the students will undertake is creating “Power of One” bags for the homeless. Each student will fill a bag with the goal of filling 270, a number that represents the number of students in the school and symbolizes each child helping another person.

Fifth graders Luca Ricobald Bergey and Mackenzie Bombas, along with fourth grader Alex Keane, said they were excited to help with the project because it gave them a chance to help those in need who are homeless.

The Ziploc bags will be filled with snacks, toiletries and words of encouragement composed by students and each grade has been assigned a sealed item to collect. The donation period began Nov. 1 and runs through Nov. 16. Donation boxes will be placed in every classroom. On November 21, students and staff will stuff the bags in a school-wide event.

In the spring, students will collect plastic grocery bags that will be donated to the Interact Club. Club members are weaving these bags together like yarn to create sleeping mats for the homeless.