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Trick-or-Treat for
UNICEF: A Very Meaningful Halloween
By Ingrid Lan, Peter Wu, and Yue-Ting Cheng
with Ms. Levine
A Service-Learning
Project
The fifth graders of the
Bilingual Department and their parents and teacher worked on a
month-long fundraising project called Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF to
raise money for UNICEF. UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
is an organization of the United Nations that supports child
survival, protection, and development worldwide through education,
advocacy, and fundraising. The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
fundraiser is promoted by the United States Fund for UNICEF and
has been an annual fundraiser in the United States for over fifty
years.
Idea for Fundraiser
The idea for a
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraiser at the Bilingual Department
came about in mid-September when Ms. Levine sought enough interest
and support from parents. Soon an organizing team formed, and the
project got underway. Gradually, the majority of the fifth grade
parents joined the efforts.
The team didn’t have an
initial goal in mind for how much money they wanted to raise for
UNICEF other than to raise as much as they could—whatever they
ultimately donated to the fund would be sufficient, they thought.
Rather, the original goals were to educate about UNICEF’s efforts
to help children worldwide and to provide students with the chance
to make a difference in the world. The following is a list of
some of the other educational goals for the fundraiser:
·
To learn
about children around the world and how their life conditions
compare to the life conditions of children in Taiwan, America, and
other wealthy countries;
·
To see
the world as family and to develop an attitude of concern for and
responsibility to that family;
·
To teach
others about and build collective support for UNICEF; and,
·
To gain
practical experience and skills in organizing, planning, and
carrying out a fundraiser.
Wednesday Stores
For the first three
Wednesdays in October, the fifth graders raised money for UNICEF
by selling homemade food, candy, and drinks, donated books and
stationary items, t-shirts and mugs. They sold the items at
stands on the 2nd floor of the Bilingual Department as
well as at other locations, such as the NEHS Elementary
Department. On the final selling day, Wednesday, October 19, the
students and parents hosted a spirited Halloween carnival in the
parking lot of the Bilingual Department, complete with costumes,
games and prizes, food, and fun!
Developing Values and Knowledge of World
Citizens
When they weren’t busy
selling things, the fifth graders took some time to learn about
UNICEF. They learned that UNICEF has been helping children in
emergency situations for over 50 years in 157 countries by
providing for them basic human needs, such as drinkable water,
food, health, education, and freedom from child-slavery and
exploitation. The students learned about life conditions in the
eight target countries UNICEF is helping this year—Niger, Sudan,
Afghanistan, Haiti, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Iraq—and
how the children of those countries are affected by those
conditions. In Niger, for example, a country in western Africa,
they learned about crop-eating bugs called locusts. These locusts
ate nearly all of the crops in some parts of the country. As a
result, nearly 750,000 children have suffered from hunger.
Students were especially alarmed to learn about the children in
Sudan, a country in northern African, who are forced to leave
their homes and become child soldiers in war. In mid-October,
after the devastating earthquake in southern Asia, the students
also learned about Pakistan, another place of emergency for
UNICEF.
It was hard for many of
the fifth graders, and some parents, to believe that many children
actually live without their basic human needs being met, such as
water, food, health, and education and that millions of children
in the world today suffer in these ways.
In addition to learning
about the life conditions of children around the world, the
students also learned what their money buys for children in
emergency need. For example, for a little over 300NT, enough high
protein biscuits can be provided to feed three hungry children for
one month; and, for a little over 450NT, one child can be
immunized against six major childhood diseases—diphtheria,
measles, polio, tetanus, tuberculosis, and whooping cough. The
students expressed surprise and some dismay when they realized
this same amount of money is what buys them candy and chips at
school in a two-three week period.
A Collective Effort
A lot of hard work ensued
and much time and energy was sacrificed on the part of all
involved to carry out the fundraiser. Every fifth grader
participated, whether it was making posters, selling things,
working on the camera crew, educating others about UNICEF, or
hosting the final ceremony. The students used some class time to
work on the details of the fundraiser, but mostly they stayed
after school with their teacher or parent-team supervisor to carry
out the project. Kids even missed piano, swimming, and badminton
lessons to work on this project!
Reward Beyond
Expectation
Everyone involved found
the fundraiser to be rewarding, meaningful, and fun beyond
expectation. Each day of work generated momentum and progress,
and as a result the project took on a spirit of its own.
Consequently, this spirit aroused among the organizers even more
enthusiasm, commitment, and love for the project. The month-long
bonding experience, the learning, and the unified purpose to serve
humanity were specially valued among the participants.
A Huge Amount of Money
Raised
Their efforts were well
rewarded financially, when at the end-of-fundraiser final ceremony
the total amount of money raised was announced. By selling the
items they sold and collecting the donations given, the fifth
graders raised NT91,256 for UNICEF. This money was sent to the
United States Fund for UNICEF in New York on October 31st, the
best trick-or-treat day of the year.
A Very Big Thanks
All the fifth graders,
parents, and organizers would like to first thank the Bilingual
Department Administration for allowing the fundraiser to take
place. Second, they wish to express their deep appreciation and
gratitude to all those who supported, in whatever way, the
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraiser. It has been marked in
history that this fundraiser was an NEHS effort.
Interest for a 2006
Fundraiser
Towards the end of
October, interest was expressed from administrators, teachers,
parents and students at all levels at the Bilingual Department to
turn this fundraiser into a department-wide or school-wide
fundraising project for next year. Some find it intriguing to
consider not only how much money and awareness could be raised
from organizing future UNICEF fundraisers, but also how the
character of the school might change as result. It could become
an NEHS tradition: service-learning. Any students, parents,
teachers, or administrators personally interested to be involved
with a 2006 Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF fundraiser should email Ms.
Levine:
bmlevine2006@yahoo.com.
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