By Howard Greninger
TERRE HAUTE — As students prepared for Thanksgiving activities with family and friends, fifth-grade teacher Julie M. Bender wanted students gathered Wednesday at an assembly at Fuqua Elementary School to remember others.
It’s a lesson her 20 students learned earlier this month as they staged the Second Annual Fuqua Charity Auction. Students helped set up for a dinner and charity silent and live auction at the school on Nov. 10.
The auction benefited the American Red Cross Wabash Valley Chapter in Terre Haute.
“More than anything, the community is great to Fuqua Elementary. The students are used to receiving [during the holiday season] and I just wanted them to learn the importance of giving. The students are really proud of what they did,” Bender said.
Last year, the auction helped the 14th & Chestnut Community Center and raised $5,500. However, last year the school received an anonymous donation of $1,000.
“So the students really raised more money this year, even if the total amount of $5,428 this year is less,” Bender said. “We chose the American Red Cross of the Wabash Valley because last year’s flood touched my class. We had some flood victims at Fuqua and what a great way to give back to the Red Cross, which helped them,” Bender said.
“The students had a lot of responsibility for this. They all passed out 20 flyers and helped brainstorm ideas on who to call” for the auction. They also set up tables and chairs for the auction,” Bender added.
Debbie Evans, a nurse’s assistant at Fuqua, was instrumental in this year’s event, Bender said. “She made a lot of the phone calls and really helped with the organization” of the event.
Bonnie Lu, director of emergency services at the American Red Cross Wabash Valley Chapter, said the money will help “local families who experience a fire in their home. We meet immediate emergency needs of food, clothing and emergency housing.”
The chapter serves eight counties: Vigo, Vermillion, Clay, Sullivan, Parke, Putnam and Greene counties in Indiana and Edgar County in Illinois.
“We assisted over 140 families last year. In Vigo County, we had about 70 families we assisted from fires. In October alone, we helped 10 families in Vigo County. While it is a lot of fires, during the winter and cold months it is not uncommon to have that many fires, as for the most part, people are using alternative sources for heat, such as space heaters,” Lu said.
The Red Cross provides hotel rooms for temporary housing and provides vouchers for clothing and food, plus helps replace prescription glasses and prescription medicines.
“On average we spend $500 to $600 per family, depending on the size of the family, so with this money we will be able to help 10 or 11 families. This is absolutely awesome, especially with what the students are being taught about giving to others. The students are so proud [of the auction], and they should be,” Lu said.
The school’s charity auction attracted about 100 people.
Some items auctioned included DVDs, Dollywood tickets, overnight stays at hotels, skating passes, family passes for the Terre Haute Children’s Museum, membership at Wabash Valley Sports Center, a new flat-screen TV, new bicycles and a Casino Aztar package (a $300 value). The items, along with food for the dinner, were donated for the auction, Bender said.
Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com
