Terri Kobs’ fifth grade class at St. John Catholic School in Russellville, Arkansas learned last May that you’re never too young to become a part of the pregnancy help movement.
Kobs’ classes have participated in the $100 Solution for the past three years. The $100 Solution is an international program based in Belize that challenges students to make a sustainable difference in their communities with $100.
The first year, the students created wooden food crates to protect meal donations for the homeless. The second year, they got local artists to donate artwork to decorate a local charity clinic. This past year, after brainstorming 17 ideas on how to help their community, the class chose to help Choices Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Russellville.
“While the homeless need protection and other people who are sick need protection, they felt that the little babies needed the protection the most, and so they wanted to do what they could to support mothers who were in that position,” Kobs said.
The class met with Katelyn Hosman, event coordinator at Choices Pregnancy Resource Clinic, who explained to them the center’s current needs. After meeting with Hosman, the class came up with a project called Project BABIES (Bless All Babies in Every Situation.) The project consisted of four parts: setting up a donation drive in their school for Choices, buying training tapes for the center’s Earn While You Learn program, purchasing baby Bibles and writing and recording 30-second PSAs for a local radio station.
The students pitched the idea to the school board, which gave them $100. An anonymous donor gave them another $100, and they received a Thrivent Action Grant for $250. They even teamed up with a local radio station to help get the word out about their project.
“Not only did we create a project that is hopefully sustainable, the students had to learn how to partner with people,” Kobs said. “They partnered with the school board, with the families of the school and with the radio station.”
When the students delivered the donated items to the pregnancy help clinic, Hosman gave them a tour of the center to show all the services the center provides.
Fifth graders share their sweet mission through a cheer for helping babies in every situation. | Video Courtesy: Friends of Choice Facebook
“Of course that just brings awareness, that helps them tell their friends, that helps them tell their parents,” Hosman said. “That’s just another outlet to show the community what we do and that we always want people to come by and tour our clinic to see just how much of an impact Choices has in the River Valley.”
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The clinic provides free pregnancy testing and limited ultrasound services, post-abortion and sexual abuse support, an Earn While You Learn program, and education on abstinence, healthy relationships, parenting and marriage.
Through the donation drive, the students were able to provide many baby items such as diapers, wipes, clothes and toys for the layettes that the center gifts each new mom. In addition, the class bought 75 baby Bibles for the center to give to each new baby.
“Here at St. John Catholic School, we teach that we want to be Christlike and nothing is more Christlike than trying to help others with the problems that they have in a loving way,” Kobs said. “And so, I’m hoping that all of our projects that we’ve done have been being Jesus with skin on, reaching out to help others in the way that Christ would if he were standing right here with us.”
