Published: November 17, 2009 02:15 pm      

Clarksville student has gathering spirit

George Rogers Clark collecting scores of items in shoe boxes for charity

CLARKSVILLE — Sitting beside a stack of 17 boxes filled with toys and supplies, 10-year-old Carley Niemeier grinned as she talked about why she did what she did.

Niemeier is one of the children at George Rogers Clark Elementary School participating in Operation Christmas Child, a program that gives a shoe box of toys, hygiene items, school supplies and more to children who otherwise would not receive a holiday gift. What sets Niemeier apart is that she’s participated for each of the four years the school has been involved in the program, bringing in the most boxes each year.

Last year, she brought in 15; 12 the year before; and the first year she brought in about 10.

To do all of that, she saves up money from birthdays and collects toys, shoe boxes and other items. She also enlists the help of her family.

“I’d rather spend my money on little kids who don’t have anything rather than me,” Niemeier said. “I know I have enough toys and they don’t have any toys and it’s good to give.”

Niemeier filled her boxes with a variety of items, depending on the sex and age of the child receiving the gift. Boxes include items such as stuffed animals, toothpaste, toothbrushes, dolls, paper, crayons and more. Many also include a note from her.

“It’s really fun packing them, because you get to pick out the toys and you get to wrap them and stuff,” she said. “It makes me feel happy, because I can give little kids stuff who don’t have anything, and I can give them something for Christmas.”

Paula Haynes, a teacher at George Rogers Clark, started the program at the school four years ago. She had participated through her church and wanted to have even more boxes to send.

“I just think it’s a wonderful way to kick off the Christmas season,” Haynes said. “There’s a lot of greed with kids and this is a wonderful way to start the season thinking of other people.”

The school of about 250 students already has collected about 160 boxes of goodies. Haynes said a grant from Communities In Schools of Clark County is helping the school to raise that number even more, to about 230.

“I was concerned this year it would be down because of the economy,” Haynes said of the collections. “I don’t think we’re down at all.

“Everybody has really stepped up.”

Haynes said she and a team of volunteers will go through each box to make sure the contents are appropriate and follow the rules, such as no chocolate since it may melt, or liquids, since they may leak.

Next week, the school’s boxes will be taken to Northside Christian Church, in New Albany, where all the boxes collected by church members will be put on a semi-truck and driven to North Carolina. There, those will be sorted and shipped throughout the world by Samaritan’s Purse, the organization behind the movement.

Haynes said she hopes the school collects even more boxes next year.

Niemeier will be a part of that. She said she hopes to beat her own record yet again next year, with about 25 boxes. She also hopes to get her Girl Scouts troop involved, so that the school can get even more boxes to send to other countries.