Cradles to Crayons Drive Continue

Cradles to Crayons Donations

Thank you so much for your donations this week we received many articles of clothing including girls shirts, girls pants and skirts, boys shirts and pants, boots, girls socks, scarves, gloves, and one jacket. Remember that we are baking cookies for people who bring in a bag of items, just put your name on the bag.

• Fall/Spring jackets, sizes newborn - 14/16 (youth) 

• New socks and underwear 

• Books, especially baby board books and chapter books for children ages 10-12

• New arts and crafts/school supplies  

• Baby crib & bassinette bedding (no bumpers, please)

• Baby carriers (sling, Bjorn, Snuggli, etc.)

• Diaper Bags

• Diapers 

We are still looking for these items:

Meira creating a care packet for a
child

Josh looking for clothes to add
to the care package

Nick folding clothes at Cradles to
Crayons

Working on our Drive

Mahdiya decorating donation box

Devon choosing colors

Cradles to Crayons Drive

Help Cradles to Crayons is in Need of:

• Boys and Girls - Sneakers, Winter Boots - all sizes up to Adult size 9
• Chapter books for ages 9-12 years old
• Boys and Girls - New Socks - sizes 6 months to 24 months
• Boys and Girls - New Underwear and Socks - sizes 2T to 14/16
• Gently-used Fall/Winter PJs for Boys and Girls - sizes newborn to 24 months
• New Fall/Winter PJs for Boys and Girls - 2T to 14/16
• Girls - Fall/Winter Bottoms - sizes 18-24 months & 9/10 to 14/16
• Girls - Fall/Winter Tops and Onesies - newborn - 3T & 9/10 to 14/16
• New scissors, pencil sharpeners, coloring books, folders and glue bottles
• Baby Items - diapers (size 4, 5, 6), baby carriers, crib bedding, bassinett bedding, saftey items, bibs, new rattles, new plastic bottles, wipes, wash cloths, burp cloths, tooth paste, toys, changing pads, new shampoo and lotion

New Year!!

Welcome to the Crefeld Connects Blog 2014 - 2015

Paycheck to Paycheck movie synopsis

The movie Paycheck to Paycheck is about a woman named Katrina Gilbert and her life on a day to day basis. The movie shows the hardships she faces every day as a single mother of three with a low paying job. The movie is produced by Maria Shriver, and the trailer can be seen by clicking the link here.

- Nick Maitin

The movie showed the hardships of truly good people. Katrina was a single mom who went through a divorce. Her ex husband was still in their life though, and tried to spend as much time with the kids as possible. They are such good people who have just been down on their luck and it makes me realize how lucky we all are.
- Meira Kavesh

The movie really showed how hard someones life can be if they live in poverty. They even had to give their puppy away because of the money it costed. They also could not afford to eat healthy food so they drank soda instead of water to juice. It also really showed me how much we take our lives for granted.
- Josh Cotterell

The movie showed how one bad event can really ruin someones life. When her husband got addicted to drugs and all her money went to his recovery, it put Katrina and her family in a very bad spot.
- Devon Wood

I learned a lot more people are in poverty and that even if they have jobs and work hard thats it is hard to get out of.
-Mahdiya Trudeau

The poorer you are the harder you have to work, and even then you have very little chance of getting out of poverty.
-Kieran Laskawy

Alumnus comes home to raise awareness about urban poverty, and needs our help.

Don Hopkins

Former student, Don, came to talk to us about poverty and what he does in his job at St Mark's Church in Philadelphia, a progressive church in Philadelphia. First, he explained poverty and how much there is in the United States and in Philadelphia as a city. He told us that just because people are poor doesn't mean they're lazy and don't work. In fact, poor people usually work harder than most fortunate folks because they have to work two or three jobs to support themselves and their family. His mission is to help feed and give weekly groceries to as many less fortunate people as he can. On Saturdays at his church, there is an open soup kitchen from 7-9:30 AM. People can come and have unlimited servings of soup, along with other foods that switch, depending on what they have. After Don was done talking we all wrote something down that we found the most interesting or shocking.

Here are the things that each one of us wrote down. . .

Emily:
 - There's a number that you can call if you see a homeless person in extreme cold weather (code blue will take a homeless person to a shelter).
 - That poor people have to work more than one job sometimes.

Meira:
 - I appreciated that the church is trying to organize a free summer camp in a rural area for less fortunate kids so they can experience nature.
 - I was surprised that homeless people need an ID to get into a shelter and most homeless people don't have one or can't afford one.

Josh:
 - I learned how many people are in poverty, and it showed me that people need to come together and support others in the time of need, and especially help children.

Jade!:
 - I learned that once you are born into poverty its very hard to get out of it.

Iris:
 - I never thought about how the poor people have to pay more for health care.

Lucas:
 -  It stood out to me how happy someone could be to receive a turkey on Thanksgiving.



We are starting a food drive and these are the items we are looking for:
Canned Meat (chicken and tuna)
Cereal
Canned Milk
Pasta
Pasta Sauce
Penut Butter
Chili
Cake Mix
Soup
Personal hygiene products
Baby food

Drop off is in the Commons through Spring Break!!!!

Crefeld Connects students with former student Don Hopkins

Crefeld Connects wraps presents for our sponsored family!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Sponsor a Family Project. It was a huge success.

Wrapping Presents for Our Family Project