While some kids may spend their spare change on magazines and candy, Syre Elementary School fifth graders Josh Kesseler and Amanda Titus are pinching their pennies.
Their thriftiness is for a good cause.
All of the money they raised last year – about $100 – went to HALO (Helping and Loving Orphans), a local organization that helps orphaned children in Asia.
Kesseler, 11, and Titus, 10, raised the money through Kool Aid stands, car washes and donations. And they will continue raising money this year, they said.
“Most times if I had raised that much money I would have spent it by now,” Kesseler said. “But I want to get more donations and continue this through sixth grade.”
Early last year, Titus’ grandmother and founder of HALO, Betty Tisdale, came to speak to the then-fourth graders about her experiences at the orphanages in Vietnam.
“I saw babies in rusty cribs … and they were wearing rags for diapers,” Tisdale remembered.
Tisdale visits Vietnam and other areas of Southeast Asia at least once a year, bringing donations she raised through community auctions and fundraisers.
Speaking to students is one of her favorite things to do.
“When I went to their class,” Tisdale said of the Syre fourth graders, “they never budged – they listened really closely. It was really indicative of the kind of kids we have today.”
“When Betty came to our school and told her story, it made me feel lucky, because I have spare cash and time,” Kesseler said. “Doing this makes me feel kinda good about myself .”
Titus agreed.
“It makes me feel like I actually did something to help someone,” she said.
The money they helped raise last year will most likely go towards supplies for the orphanages or be placed in a fund used for building much-needed vocational schools in Vietnam, Tisdale said.
“And we’ll put up a plaque there with your names on it,” she added.
Both Titus and Kesseler, who Tisdale recently named her “HALO Helpers,” already have begun to raise more money for HALO. Together with classmates, family members and Tisdale, they raised $260.37 at a car wash Sept. 13 in Richmond Beach.
The students have been an inspiration to Tisdale.
“I won’t live forever and hopefully they will continue this work somehow,” Tisdale said. “These kids give me great hope for the future of our country.”
For more information about HALO or to make donations, go to www.BettyTisdale.com.
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