Girls of 5 and 7 years organize a campaign to help solidarity project

Sisters Naelí, 7, and Valentina, 5, showed that young age is no obstacle when you have the desire to help. Students of the Adventist School of Imperatriz (EAI), in Maranhão, the girls were invited to participate in the project, I have a Solitary Heart, promoted annually by the Adventist Education network. The project's objective is to encourage solidarity actions in the school community by collecting donations that help people in need, awakening in students a sensitive view of society's needs.

This year, the initiative was carried out in the months of March and April. During this period, themes such as generosity, solidarity, and care for others were highlighted, according to Davi Santos, a school pastor responsible for the project at EAI. “This is one of the most precious projects in our school, as several aspects and values ​​are developed in our students and employees. In this very specific moment in which we are living, it is extremely important to remember the value of others and our duty to care for and love our neighbor ”, explains Davi.

After watching the online chapel that introduced the project to the students, Naelí and Valentina felt motivated to collaborate in whichever way they could. The girls' mother, Elígia Namaro, says that right after the virtual class, they started reaching out to family members. They talked about the school's project and asked for donations. In addition, they had the initiative to launch a campaign at their church to collect clothes and food.

The result of the effort brought a lot of joy to the girls. With the help of family members, the two children quickly raised the amount of R $ 100. The church campaign allowed them to gather bundles of clothes and food to compose basic baskets. Naelí and Valentina were happy to take their collections to school. Even though for some it may have seemed little, for the little ones the joy of being able to help someone was immense.

Distributing hope

In southern Maranhão, the project was implemented in the five Adventist school units in Imperatriz, Bacabal, Santa Inês, and Porto Franco. At the end of the campaign, R $ 10,100.00 and 91 basic baskets were collected, in addition to clothing, blankets, and shoes. Part of the amount raised was allocated to the Luzeiros project, with speedboats that provide medical care to riverside communities in the State of Pará.

The rest was used to buy more basic food baskets and other specific items to serve social institutions and non-governmental organizations in each municipality. Families of students, employees and the community were also helped.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site