Each year, students in Melissa Kmetz’s 3rd grade class at Lakeview Elementary School in Cortland take part in a “Change The World” project. This year they chose The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley as the focus of their project.
$2,000 donated to The Hope Foundation as part of Change The World project
Over a two-week period in May the students collected “Dollars For Hope” from schoolmates, family and friends, raising $2,000 for the local charity that helps improve the lives of chronically and terminally ill children in the tri-county area. The money raised will be used to help make a child’s hospital stay more comfortable and provide items that are tailored to meet the specific needs of each.
Miss Kmetz says that the class chose to help hospitalized children, because in the words of one of her students, “The kids are so young to be hurting and they have a lot of life to live. We should at least make them happy in a bad time.” After spending two months in the hospital herself, the young teacher says she could not agree more.
Anthony Spano, executive director of The Hope Foundation, remarked that these type of fundraising efforts in which kids help kids in need are extremely gratifying. “Not only do our kids and families benefit, but students learn about the importance of helping others and this, we hope, will last a lifetime,” he said.
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The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley (H.F.M.V.) a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 2007 after the increasing success and popularity of the Game of Hope Charity Basketball Classic. Our unpaid staff, volunteers and supporting individuals and organizations are committed to our mission. We improve the quality of life for our community’s chronically and terminally ill children and their families through charitable support. With money raised from donations and our signature fundraisers The Foundation provides grants up to $5,000. For more information about The Foundation please visit the website at www.HopeMV.org.
