Fans of “The Room,” who endure long lines outside the Village East Cinema, call the film the “Citizen Kane” of awful movies — and greet the low-budget flick with “Rocky Horror Picture Show”-like enthusiasm at monthly midnight showings.
Like many of her classmates at Public School 171 on E. 103rd Street, Ashlee Jackson is getting a lesson in fundraising.
The eighth grader has participated in car washes, bake sales and created art to be sold. But the cash isn’t going to her school.
The students at P.S. 171 are raising money to build wells in rural villages in the Busoga region of Uganda.
A Special GOAL
“We felt happy that we were raising money for a place that’s poor, to make them happy and lift their spirits,” Ashlee said.
The school’s GOAL (Giving Access to Open Learning) program works with the Busoga Trust, which strives to help Ugandan villagers. Both GOAL, which teaches children the value of giving back, and the Busoga Trust were founded by Jeffrey Kaplan, who decided last year to marry the efforts at P.S. 171.
When Kaplan first started teaching GOAL students about Africa and the global water crisis, he asked them how much money they thought they could raise together. “A lot of kids said $20. The highest number said was $100. In the end, they raised $1,700,” Kaplan said. “It proved to them that they can affect more than they think they can affect. If they can do that for someone across the planet, imagine what they can do for their own lives.”
Life Lessons
In the classroom, the students talked about water conservation, Uganda, and the lifestyles and culture of its people. GOAL Director Bryan Powell said the geography lessons and the discussions about basic living needs made the project more realistic for the students. The youngsters were more “motivated and engaged than just going to Central Park and picking up trash,” he said.
The students investigated their own water footprints – how much water they use daily. “We brushed our teeth and timed how long our showers were. We added all that up to see how many gallons of water we used a day, to see the importance of fresh drinking water,” Powell said.
Students encouraged parents to donate a dollar at parent-teacher conferences; they created artwork inspired by the Busoga Trust and sold their pieces, and held a bake sale and a car wash. “[The car wash was] a conservation lesson too, about the need to pay attention to how much water you use for necessary things,” Powell said.
Looking Ahead
The staffs of GOAL and the Busoga Trust are looking to expand the fundraising efforts to other schools across the city. Powell said the next step for GOAL students at P.S. 171 is discussing other charities they’d like to get involved in, though they could opt to stick with the Busoga Trust.
For now, a well will be built in Busoga, with a nameplate listing the GOAL students who helped raise money.
“Nobody can ever take that away from them,” said Kaplan. “They can be treated like crap from teachers or parents, but nobody can ever take away from these kids that they got together as a group and built a well in Uganda that is going to be there for the next 20 years. It’s not a fragile thing. It’s a very tangible, stable, lasting thing.”
The Center for Sustainable Energy offers training in solar power conversion. Students include traditional electricians like Charles Stewart, who calls his new business “Peace and Solar.”
The recession has made it hard for many people to give gifts this holiday season – and even harder to donate to charities, including ones that serve children in need.
While NBC’s “Today” show reaped a record $30 million through its 16th annual toy drive, donations to the Toys for Tots are down. Meanwhile, one local education official is struggling to find toys to brighten the lives of 600 children residing in Brooklyn homeless shelters.
