By Rebecca Call
Lakeview Academy saw a huge increase in items left at the school recently, but these items were not forwarded to the lost and found. Students, teachers, administration and parents teamed together to gather over 250 coats, 200 blankets and hundreds of other warm clothing items to sent to a far off country most people have never heard of.
Kyrgyzstan, or Kyrgyz Republic, is a small country located between Uzbekistan and China, very close to Afghanistan. US citizens are stationed over the area and a serious need came to the attention of one man. Kristina Skarstedt, a teacher at Lakeview, states, “Rex [Vanderwood] says there is an orphanage near the Air Base where he is. Children are freezing to death daily. There are families nearby that have children they cannot clothe for this horrible weather and the children are dying. He is witnessing this himself and is trying to help them. He and I will be collecting children’s winter clothing. Used, but clean, is fine.”
Lakeview Academy was up to the challenge. Over 34 boxes of winter items were collected by the students outside the school during the regular carpool pickup. Older students stood with younger ones collecting the coats, mittens, scarves and more, but the generosity did not stop there.
To pay for the shipping of the 1,100 pounds of collected donations, students sold baked goods and took monetary donations. In just three days, enough funds were collected to send all the 34 boxes to an awaiting APO address.
Vanderwood, the gentleman awaiting the shipments in Kyrgyzstan, has already begun to receive boxes. With efforts from Lakeview and other people and organizations, Rex has already received over 200 boxes.
Skarstedt, who is the volunteer coordinator for the Lakeview Kyrgyzstan Operation Warm Babies project, states, “Rex is spending every bit of his time off delivering the clothing to people, not getting more than four hours of sleep sometimes. He has enlisted the help of many of the troops and it has turned out to be very helpful for them as well. Many of these troops have never had a chance to be involved in a service project and they say it is so healing and therapeutic for them.”
Skarstedt continues, “They have visited two orphanages, along with schools hospitals and villages. When Rex asked for volunteers, he asked by raise of hand who had never been involved in a service project like this before and almost everyone raised their hands. He had to warn them that it would be dangerous and they would have to travel in armored vehicles, not knowing what kind of trouble might be lurking as they were going into unknown territories. He told them that they would be without food and sleep for as long as it took them to deliver the stuff as there wouldn’t be time to eat and sleep.”
“At the end of one particular day,” Skarstedt adds, “they handed out the last coat to one family who told them that it was their son’s birthday. The troops then emptied their pockets and bags of everything they had and gave it all to this little boy. They literally came home with nothing left and they all said that it had been the best day of their lives. People in nearby villages are hearing about the clothing and are requesting help for their orphanages and villages. People are so happy and grateful to get the clothing. Rex says it is an unbelievable experience.”
Lakeview is thrilled with the turnout to such a cause. One parent said, “This type of experience completely epitomizes Lakeview’s mission of “developing youth who are Capable, Confident and Contributing members of society through learning experiences that foster growth, creativity and character development.” These are the types of lessons, in addition to reading, writing and arithmetic, I want my kids to learn.”
