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Good News About Kids
group magazine: November-December, 1996
From: GROUP Magazine's November/December 1996 issue
Keywords: Giving Thanks, Honoring, Good News, Good News About Kids GIVING THANKS WELL Every Thanksgiving the junior high girls at Sweetgum Baptist Church in Robbinsville, North Carolina, cook and deliver traditional turkey dinners to more than 18 of their neighbors in need. "We live in a very small rural area and many of these people are elderly, live alone, and can't get out to get what they need." explains youth leader Latresa Webster Phillips. A few weeks before Thanksgiving, the girls plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide who'll receive a meal, and raise donations of food and cash. The night before the holiday, the girls gather at the Phillips' home to go grocery shopping, have a devotion, and sleep over so they're ready to cook early Thanksgiving morning. Several moms and other volunteers help deliver the meals. "We've done this for five years now," Phillips says. "I recently had lunch with one of the girls who's since graduated, and she said of all the activities we did, this one was the most fun for her. It really shows the girls how much they have to be thankful for and how they can share with others around them." HONORING RITA When 17-year-old Gillian Kilberg of McLean, Virginia, inherited $20,000 last year after her grandmother's death, she decided to use the money to honor her grandmother's memory. With the help of additional donors, she created Grandma Rita's Children, a day camp for needy kids. First-year field trips have included an Orioles game and a Motown concert. "This lets these kids be kids and gives them hope that there is a world outside their everyday environment," says Kilberg. |
