Home > Canyon Creek students help military families to 'Be Brave'
September 2, 2008
 Four-year-old Declan Inderbitzen's daddy won't be back from Iraq until next April, but thanks to some students from Canyon Creek Elementary School in the Cherry Creek School District, he has a reminder of his dad that he can hug, squeeze and take to bed.
Through the Penny Harvest project, Canyon Creek students collected $1,250 worth of pennies, said Emily Gay, a Canyon Creek teacher who helped organize the project. "Penny Harvest shows students they have the ability to make the world a better place by introducing them to the power of philanthropy and service."
The students were charged with deciding how their pennies will be spent, said Gates' fellow organizer teacher Carrie Klem. By forming Philanthropy Roundtables the students studied community problems and determined which organizations could best alleviate those problems.
This spring the students decided they would purchase more than 40 teddy bears for Buckley Air Force Base's Operation Be Brave program. Third-grader Brandon Kelman came up with the idea to help families who were affected by military service because of the experiences he had heard about from his classmate Madison Kinsey. Madison's father has been deployed with the U.S. Army for nearly two years now. He is currently in Iraq and is due back in December. Through writing and drawing, she expresses how much she misses him. She supported the idea of helping other kids cope with missing their parents.
 "These bears will help kids to feel safe and remind them of their dads," Madison said. "They can keep it in their rooms or take it with them everywhere."
Each bear came dressed in the uniform of the military branch for which each child's parent was serving.
After receiving his bear, Declan Inderbitzen said the uniform on his bear, especially the hat, reminded him on his dad. "The smell reminds me of daddy too," he said. "I'll sleep with him."
Declan Inderbitzen, 4, squeezes the teddy bear he received from Canyon Creek Elementary School students as part of the Penny Harvest project.
Canyon Creek Elementary School students Brandon Kelman and Madison Kinsey display one of the bears they gave to children who had a parent deployed with the military.
http://www.ccsd.k12.co.us/News/OperationBeBrave/
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