HERMITAGE, FARRELL

Students help center get new van

Students for Charity wasn’t a free ride last year for its Hickory High School members, but their efforts did help one local organization get a new ride, said Joe Mielecki.

Mielecki, vice president of First National Trust Co., Hermitage, who last year advised the Hickory High School chapter, said his 35 members were tireless workers.

With the help of the Shenango Valley Foundation and other area organizations, the students donated $15,572 to the Prince of Peace Center in Farrell to help it buy a truck to transport daily food orders, furniture and appliances to needy families.

The beefy hauler -- a 2000 GMC Sierra pickup with an 8-foot bed under a box-top back end -- replaced the center’s 7-year-old van, which had been run ragged.

During the spring, students raised about $7,800. The combined efforts of the students and a match from the Shenango Valley Foundation went toward the truck, said Sister Clare Marie Beichner, director of the center that serves poor families.

"We are extremely grateful (to the Students for Charity) and I am edified by their example, to see that we’re all involved in helping the larger community," Sister Clare Marie said.

"I am impressed by their leadership and follow-through, and proud of our young people," she added. "It is good for the public to know that young people aren’t thinking only of themselves."

Aside from raffles, the group put milk jugs in classrooms to collect students’ change, Mielecki said. The room with the fattest piggy bank won a pizza party.

The effort wasn’t all parties, though. In fact, Hickory’s chapter received a boost from special-needs student who chose not to have a party they had been planning.

Mielecki said the class, which had raised money for its own bash, learned of the effort and donated all of its money toward the truck purchase. "The class (in a letter) said they wanted to give their money to a group that needed it more than they did instead," Mielecki said.

But the effort wasn’t just about money, either. Some Hickory students have volunteered their time at the center since the check was turned over in July, Sister Clare Marie said.

Sister Clare Marie said the truck is more rugged than the van. It makes hauling refrigerators and other large appliances and furniture easier, she added.

The Farrell center provides emergency relief with its food pantry and soup kitchen, and provides counseling, clothing and household items for those in need. The center also offers family support services.