THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 5, 1995 TAG: 9503030155
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Eric Feber
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Students at Carter Intermediate School had a serious case of puppy love late last month.
From Feb. 21-24, the school raised $366 and collected 261 cans of dog food to benefit the local chapter of the American Humane Society and the Chesapeake Animal Control shelter.
The school's fourth- and fifth-grade students had already helped people in the community thanks to a ``Souper Turkey Trot'' campaign in which soups and other canned goods were collected during Thanksgiving and a Christmastime drive which collected additional canned goods for the needy.
Next, the school turned its attention to pooches.
``We had done two things for people so we thought let's do something for the animals,'' said Nancy Wall, a reading teacher. ``We thought it would be something different, and the kids loved the idea.''
The dog food drive, known throughout the school as ``Puppy Love,'' was sponsored by the school's Student Cooperative Association and organized by Wall and SCA adviser Linda Epps.
During the four days of the campaign the children brought dog food and cash donations, Wall said.
``We had a cute campaign,'' Wall explained. ``On the wall outside of the school cafeteria we put up white paper cut-out dogs which were `adopted' by each home room. Every time a dollar was raised by a particular class, its dog received a spot.''
When the campaign was over the 40 white dogs resembled Dalmatians, Wall added.
In addition, each paper pooch had a paper dog dish. Every time a can of dog food was brought in by any particular class, the dog dish was given a ``paper chunk'' of dog food. If a particular dish had too many of these chunks, a total of cans collected was written in front of the dish.
Two home rooms came up with winning totals.
Ashley Mullinex's home room 106 raised $71 and Charlene Smith's home room 010 chipped in $69 and collected 49 cans.
``An average class size is only 26 students, so for a class to come up with canned food and cash totals like that is quite impressive,'' Wall said. ``It just shows how dedicated these kids were.''
A representative from the local chapter of the American Humane Society picked up the cash and cans several days ago, Wall said. The food will be used to feed dogs at the Chesapeake Animal Control shelter and the money will be used by the society to fund its spay/neuter program. Heartfelt gifts
Members of the Bell Atlantic sponsored Telephone Pioneers of America gave their hearts to elderly folks in Chesapeake on St. Valentine's Day.
The Telephone Pioneers of America is the world's largest industrial volunteer organization and was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, said Rita Coley, president of the Tidewater Council of the Bell Atlantic division of the Pioneers.
The local chapter includes 1,700 active and retired members.
It has participated in Hug-A-Bear campaigns to put stuffed teddy bears in state trooper cruisers, emergency medical services ambulances/vehicles and fire department vehicles. The bears are used to give comfort to children traumatized by accidents, fires and violence.
Coley said her group has also been active in the Clean the Bay and Paint Your Heart Out Chesapeake campaigns.
But for Feb. 14, it decided to spread a little heartfelt cheer to residents of Wilton Hall on Great Bridge Boulevard and Julia's Home in Deep Creek. The group also included a facility in Suffolk and two in Portsmouth.
Organized and implemented by Kathy Schultz, the St. Valentine's campaign featured 185 handmade, heart-shaped pillows given to the residents of the five Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk nursing homes.
``All of the materials, sewing, stuffing and tacking was done by our volunteers,'' Coley said. ``The pillow manufacture was headed by Kathy Schultz, who really got the ball rolling. Even the men here at the phone company got involved during their lunch hours and helped stuff pillows.''
Coley said the residents of Wilton Hall and Julia's Home welcomed the gifts.
``The residents were absolutely ecstatic,'' Coley said. ``When we first came in with the pillows many of them said, `No, we can't afford that.' When they found out they were for free, they couldn't believe it, and you could see the warmth on their faces. They playfully began clutching the pillows and started swatting each other with them. It was amazing to see how these simple pillows brought so much joy.'' by CNB