Inspired by the K.I.N.D fund, Kids In Need Of Desks, student council members at Ashaway Elementary School in Rhode Island took matters into their own hands.
Since February, they've been holding fundraisers or so-called "spirit days" to buy desks for kids their own age in Malawi. They got creative with tactics; each student could donate a quarter or 50 cents to vote for teachers to dress up like a celebrity.
Principal Steve Morrone (who, FYI, had to dress up like Justin Bieber) just told us his students have now raised $815 to donate to our joint program with UNICEF — that's enough to outfit a whole classroom full of desks, and then some.
Thanks to their efforts — and the generosity of viewers at home like yourself — our grand total since we started this program is $4,480,328.
Find out how you can get involved by visiting LastWordDesks.msnbc.com to donate.
Leave a Comment:
These beautiful children are just amazing!!! Because of their efforts now a classroom of Malawi Kids will have desks. Outstanding job!!!
When I sent money for a desk last year, I was curious about Malawi, so I looked it up.
The country is about the size of Ohio with roughly the same population. Imagine all the children in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Dayton, Akron and Youngstown,plus the smaller counties.
The current total of $4.4 Million is about 92,000 desks. Cincinnati Public has about 33,000 students; adding county pupils would probably double that.
Therefore, I suppose we have yet a long way to go to outfit all the Malawi schools. When do
you think we will reach that goal?
Kathy
Cincinnati