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Friendship Eighth Graders Organize Event To Support Lemons Of Love


The students involved in the charity event at Friendship Jr. High include (in no particular order): Ruth Abera, Felicia Akinde, Diana Badillo, Weronika Barloga, Nicole Cetnar, Lena Daniel, Asmitha Darapaneni, Carmela Delvo, Anastasia Doris, Sofia Doris, Jashua Ethithara, Olivia Fila, Claudia Koziol, Karylle Lausa, Nielsen Le, Yasmine Lugo, Megan McPherson, Ashley Negrete, Victoria Nei, Ivan Ramirez, Faith Reyes, James Sehata, James Waters, Robert West and Gabriela Zabiegaj.

Kristin Hahn’s eighth graders in her Advanced Language Arts class are hosting a “Charity Fairity” event to raise money for Mount Prospect-based nonprofit Lemons of Love.

Mark your calendars for 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 11 and head to Friendship Jr. High School in Des Plaines with the little ones. At the fair, families will enjoy hand-crafted games, raffles, a baked sale, a lemonade stand and bouncy house — and don’t forget the face painter. The fee is payable at the door.

“The kids came up with the idea for the charity fairity. This is a legacy project, because it’s not only important to learn about reading and writing, but to be a productive member of society and a good human being,” said Hahn, who is an eighth grade ELA teacher and the student-created Firebird Feed newspaper adviser. “They are hosting this fun fair to give back to the community and to bring the school and outside community together to have fun and raise money for Lemons of Love.”

The charity was founded by Jill Swanson Peltier, a business owner in the automotive racing industry who was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2014. One of her friends gave her a gift of necessities to use during her chemo treatments. Peltier not only appreciated the gift, she felt it would benefit other patients experiencing chemo. This led to her creating Lemons of Love and giving chemo goodie bags. The charity’s storefront is located at Central Road and Northwest Highway in Mount Prospect.

“The rationale is that someone in our lives will be affected during their life,” said Hahn.

Their goal of raising $1,500 for the charity would be the students’ way of getting involved.

Planning for the fair began with writing down the jobs needed to make it a success. Students applied for the jobs and Hahn scanned through their applications for the best qualified individuals.

Assignments were given and they created a to-do list to help them meet their goals. An ad team focused on making a promotional video that was posted on the weebly website charityfairity.weebly.com

Hahn said a sponsorship team composed a letter requesting raffle donations from local businesses. The students received gift cards and Target offered a $200 gift card to purchase items for a themed basket.

Next, fairground planners took measurements for dedicated spaces and determined the layout for games and other activities. They rented a bouncy house and found a face painter. Made by Mary will take requests for baked goods and parents are baking as well.

Students involved include: Ruth Abera, Felicia Akinde, Diana Badillo, Weronika Barloga, Nicole Cetnar, Lena Daniel, Asmitha Darapaneni, Carmela Delvo, Anastasia Doris, Sofia Doris, Jashua Ethithara, Olivia Fila, Claudia Koziol, Karylle Lausa, Nielsen Le, Yasmine Lugo, Megan McPherson, Ashley Negrete, Victoria Nei, Ivan Ramirez, Faith Reyes, James Sehata, James Waters, Robert West and Gabriela Zabiegaj.

Their principal, Jodi Megerle, said she loves the whole concept of the Charity Fairity event, starting with the invitation to hear the pitch to seeing the class plan come alive.

“I enjoy meeting with the students to listen to the presentation as they explain their thoughts, ideas, vision and goals,” said Megerle. “I enjoy asking them background and planning questions to see how the idea was formed and what more they need to do to execute their plan. That, in and of itself, has great value to the students — they are not afraid to pitch an idea to the principal and are ready for whatever my answer might be. They don’t know what I am going to say or what questions I may have.”

Adding value to the project, Megerle says, is the impact of helping others, especially at this age. Service has a profound effect on brain chemistry, improving self-esteem, happiness and well-being.

“These are all areas that we strive to build and reinforce with our students as they grow and change during their time at Friendship Junior High. There’s nothing more authentic and real than students taking charge of a project such as this, providing a fun-filled day to the community and then donating their earnings to Lemons of Love. I am so proud of all their hard work,” she added.

Megan McPherson, sponsorship team member, was excited to see the fair come together.

“All of this hard work and effort is for people undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Although I have never experienced chemotherapy, I have seen many of my family members go through the tough battle of cancer. It’s hard, but when they receive gifts from people they don’t even know that makes their journey through chemotherapy even the slightest bit easier, they feel loved and it makes them fight even harder!”

“I think that this is a super fun way to give back and support people going through a tough time. I’m really glad that we get to leave our legacy in such a grand way, and I hope that a lot of people come out to our event to support Lemons of Love,” said Karylle Lausa who is involved with the fairground planning team.

“I’m on the Charity team which means that I get to work closely with Lemons of Love. Not only do I feel honored to be working closely with such a great charity, but I have improved on my communication skills,” said Nicole Cetnar.

To view the students’ promotional video visit: drive.google.com/file/d/1eLCjXxBVYM9izIrv6J-ue4bSE5p2vqm6/view

Friendship Jr. High School is part of Elk Grove Township Elementary School District 59 and is located at 550 Elizabeth Lane in Des Plaines.

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