Schools

MI Works! Students Deliver Holiday Color to Children's Hospital Patients

L'Anse Creuse Public Schools MI Works! students tie-dyed 60 pillowcases to brighten the holidays of young patients of Children's Hospital this season.

A rainbow of color is on its way to the Children's Hospital of Michigan Stilson Specialty Center this holiday season thanks to the creative efforts of L’Anse Creuse Public School MI Works! students.

, high school and GED students in the MI Works! program chose the young patients of Children’s Hospital as the beneficiaries of their winter community service project.

Each year, the students plan, fund and craft a service project that benefits the local community. Today, students will deliver 60 tie-dye pillowcases to the Stilson Speciality Center for distribution to those who may be spending this holiday season in the hospital rather than at home.

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“The pillowcases are two-fold,” said Kim Goss, MI Works! support specialist for LCPS. “Once they leave, they’ll be able to utilize the pillow to put all of their belongings in to go home with. So not only is it going to bring color to a very white room, but it’s going to be a resourceful tool for when they leave.”

Tie-dyed by hand, each pillowcase sports its own unique colors and design.

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For student Alana Young, 17, the pillowcase project is a chance to show the children that “someone is thinking of them.”

On a more personal level, it helps to put her life in perspective.

“I feel more appreciative because I know that I’m not sick like the people I see,” Young said. “I can deal with a broken home but I can’t deal with a terminal illness.”

Fellow student Glorya Smelley, 17, agrees.

“Somebody’s situation is always worse than yours,” Smelley said. "It's nice to do something for them."

Funding for the project is raised entirely by the students' fall soap and candle sale. Although much of a MI Works! student's summer is spent working in the community, part of the L'Anse Creuse MI Works! summer program includes making various soaps and candles to be sold at fall parent-teacher conferences.

The proceeds from this sale are then used to purchase whatever supplies are needed for the year's community service project.

With state funding cuts expected, Goss said she is unsure the program will have the funds to operate this summer, but is making plans nonetheless.

"If we’re funded for the summer, we’re going to do hand sanitizer," she said. "I don’t know what next year will have in store."

For the present, Goss and her students are content to do their part, however small, to brighten the holidays for those at Children's Hospital.


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