thedrifter
10-31-07, 09:23 AM
PTO, children collect Beanies for Iraq
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By KEITH J. O'CONNOR
HUNTINGTON - They will be heading to Iraq, but on a different mission than the troops.
In December, hundreds of Beanie Babies will be shipped off to Iraq, where they will be distributed to children.
Called Project Beanie Bundles, the initiative is being organized by the Littleville Parent-Teacher Organization, whose president, Dona M. Hayes, of Montgomery, enlisted the help of fellow members and the school to collect the Beanie Babies.
The call for the Beanie Babies came through Marine Gareth Mello, who is stationed in Iraq. He and his comrades found that Iraqi children love Beanie Babies.
Mello and Hayes's cousin, Paul Flebotte, are friends.
"Gareth wrote home to his dad, Gordon, telling him some of the Marines he was with had Beanie Babies," said Hayes, "and that the Iraqi children were wild over them. And he asked his dad if he could get some to send over to him in Iraq so they could give them to the kids. Gordon asked my cousin if he knew of any way to get a bunch of Beanie Babies, and Paul decided to work on it as a community service project he could list on his college application."
When Hayes learned what her cousin was doing, she decided to help him by working with her PTO at the Littleville Elementary School.
"The bags are beginning to pile up in the school library," Hayes said. "The kids are pretty excited about the project, and there is a big basket of Beanie Babies on the counter in the office which they can see when they come into school each morning."
Ellie
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
By KEITH J. O'CONNOR
HUNTINGTON - They will be heading to Iraq, but on a different mission than the troops.
In December, hundreds of Beanie Babies will be shipped off to Iraq, where they will be distributed to children.
Called Project Beanie Bundles, the initiative is being organized by the Littleville Parent-Teacher Organization, whose president, Dona M. Hayes, of Montgomery, enlisted the help of fellow members and the school to collect the Beanie Babies.
The call for the Beanie Babies came through Marine Gareth Mello, who is stationed in Iraq. He and his comrades found that Iraqi children love Beanie Babies.
Mello and Hayes's cousin, Paul Flebotte, are friends.
"Gareth wrote home to his dad, Gordon, telling him some of the Marines he was with had Beanie Babies," said Hayes, "and that the Iraqi children were wild over them. And he asked his dad if he could get some to send over to him in Iraq so they could give them to the kids. Gordon asked my cousin if he knew of any way to get a bunch of Beanie Babies, and Paul decided to work on it as a community service project he could list on his college application."
When Hayes learned what her cousin was doing, she decided to help him by working with her PTO at the Littleville Elementary School.
"The bags are beginning to pile up in the school library," Hayes said. "The kids are pretty excited about the project, and there is a big basket of Beanie Babies on the counter in the office which they can see when they come into school each morning."
Ellie