BEAR CREEK TOWNSHIP -- A group of good-hearted elementary and middle school students is getting into the holiday spirit by running a donation drive for their own nonprofit.
Ellie Scullion, Alayna and Aly Miller, and Nate Scullion started the nonprofit Homeless Help in Bear Creek Township four years ago.
It all began with some yarn and a lot of compassion.
“We had a friend whose house burned down, and we wanted to help them as best we could,” fifth-grader Ellie Scullion said.
The kids wanted to sell scarves to raise money to buy donations for their friend and for the homeless community.
First, they had to learn a thing or two about how to knit.
“Well, we all love to finger knit. Ellie learned how to do it, and then we all started doing it, and it was really fun. Then we learned how to arm knit, and we decided to do that as well,” sixth-grader Aly Miller said.
Now, the kids’ vision to give back to those who are less fortunate is growing through a donation drive at Bear Creek Community Charter School.
“At Bear Creek, we try to be as involved in the community as possible, so we kind of put our heads together and thought what better way than to run our on donation drive here at the school,” teacher Kristine Schutz said.
Homeless Help also partners with Church on the Square in Wilkes-Barre, collecting everything from gently used clothes to toiletries.
“It’s definitely different for every person, but normally, they’re just thankful that we’re helping them and stuff,” eighth-grader Alayna Miller said.
“For me, it was really humbling to see the people who were benefiting from our stuff and to see that our work does go somewhere that benefits others,” eighth-grader Nate Scullion said.
If you’d like to help out, you can call Church on the Square at 570-955-9035.