Glendale News Press
LATimes.com
Nov 20 2004
Giving help, a box at a time
Clark Magnet High School students gather dozens of boxes of toys,
books, clothes and shoes to be shipped to Iraqi children.
By Darleene Barrientos, News-Press and Leader
LA CRESCENTA — Having had the luxury of playing with Barbie dolls as
a young girl, the image of Iraqi girls making do with rocks hit home
for Clark Magnet High School student Jenny Lee.
“That kind of got to me,” the 17-year-old student said of a video she
saw. “We have so much here. The least you could do is buy something
for just $1 or $2. Just donating will make us happy and make them
happy.”
So Jenny, a member of her school’s student government, set out to
help her school gather dozens of boxes of toys, school supplies,
shoes and clothes to donate to the women and children of Iraq. The
boxes were handed over to Passions & Dreams Funding, an organization
accepting donations that will be sorted out and shipped to Iraq.
Clark Magnet’s student government mobilized the effort in October,
placing a container in each fourth-period classroom where students
could deposit their donations. The school made a competition of the
effort, in which each classroom could garner points for every type of
donation. Books and coloring books were the most valuable at 200
points, and shoes were worth 150 points. Clothes and toys got each
class 100 points, while school supplies, like pencils and crayons,
were 10 points each.
The school’s goal was to hit about 400,000 points, but the students
exceeded 500,000. Mary Mardirosian’s classroom alone acquired more
than 100,000 points, the most out of the whole school. The classroom
with the most points won an award pointing that out and thanking the
students.
Several of Mardirosian’s students recently moved here from other
countries, so that might have fueled their motivation to donate,
Mardirosian said.
When talking about the effort, Mardirosian talked to her students
about the earthquakes in Armenia and Mexico.
“I said, ‘Now it’s your chance to give,’ ” she said. “It doesn’t
matter your opinion of the war — just help the Iraqi children.”
The cardboard boxes of donations overflowed with a plush, red Elmo, a
Scooby Doo doll, and a SpongeBob Squarepants doll, while sparkly
pencil sets and baby’s clothes protruded from other boxes. A box
filled with worn baseballs and softballs elicited wows from the
students, while plastic bouncing balls nearly popped out of several
other boxes.
“I’m blown away,” said Silva Mirzoian, the founder of Passions &
Dreams. “I’m overwhelmed with their generosity. I had no idea they
would gather so much.
The organization will take this shipment to a warehouse so workers
can sort through the goods and make sure they are appropriate to the
country’s customs. Mirzoian said she hoped the toys, clothes, shoes
and books would be in the hands of the Iraqi children by
mid-December. For more information about Passions & Dreams or to
donate, call (310) 273-1019 or go to their website at
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