FAYETTEVILLE — Twelve-year-old Rayner Whitehead, a seventh-grader at Holt Middle School, said he learned something Monday during a Charity Fair at his school.
As a student athlete, he said he knows the importance of being well hydrated, but he learned that a person who weighs 100 pounds needs to consume 50 ounces of water a day.
“And I weigh 100 pounds,” he said.
The information came from the Kendrick Fincher Foundation booth, one of 17 local nonprofit organizations that staged the fair. Fincher died in 1996 after becoming dehydrated during football practice in Rogers.
At A Glance
Participants
Nonprofit organizations at the Charity Fair at Holt Middle School included Habitat for Humanity, Alzheimer’s Association, Olivia’s Basket, Feed Fayetteville, Seeds that Feed, Seven Hills Homeless Shelter, United Way, CASA of Northwest Arkansas, Junior League, Northwest Arkansas Food Bank, Fayetteville Outback, Hope Cancer Resources, Teen Crisis Center, Kendrick Fincher Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, American Red Cross and Cameron’s Amazing Book Club.
Source: Staff Report
The students asked questions such as how the organization started, what it did, how it raised money and if there were volunteer opportunities.
Carrissa Jackson, 13, stopped at the booth manned by the American Red Cross. When the volunteer explained Clara Barton founded the organization, Carrissa exclaimed, “She is in my history book.”
Moving from the Red Cross to another booth, Carrissa said, “This is a great way to help our world.” The Red Cross was her favorite booth, she said.
The students will research and write an argumentative essay on the charity of their choice, said Penny Ezell, the instructional facilitator. The students will be grouped by the charities they choose, and will develop an action plan to help the organization.
The plans will be presented to the class, which will vote on one or two charities to support, Ezell said.
Ezell said the fair was intended to be a springboard to help students understand how they can give back to the community. The project, expected to be completed by December, is part of the new Common Core curriculum in third through eighth grades.
“This project makes the learning more rigorous and relevant,” Ezell said.
The Charity Fair may be the first of its kind in a school. Principal Mike Mason said he had never heard of one.
Sandy Prince, vice president for cancer prevention and education with Hope Cancer Resources, said she had never done a charity fair before although she had attended school health fairs.
Dominic Townsend, 13, said he hoped to help his church with a canned food drive in the coming months, by asking his parents for food from home they don’t want or need or spending his allowance for food.
He said he would be willing to donate his old toys, clothes, books or extra school supplies.
One of his favorite charities at the fair was Olivia’s Basket, which raises money and builds houses in underdeveloped countries. The foundation is named for Olivia Ray, a 10-year-old student at Leverett Elementary School when she was struck and killed while crossing Razorback Road three years ago. She would have been in the seventh grade this year.
“This is a great way to learn how to be giving and kind,” said Rayner.