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EDUCATIONCovenant Day students lace shoes, pack boxes for children in needby Sarah Gilberteducation@thecharlotteweekly.comStudents at Covenant Day School tooktime away from the classroom last weekto help children around the world.The entire Covenant Day MiddleSchool spent Dec. 9 and Dec. 10 helpingout at Samaritan’s Purse and Samaritan’sFeet as part of the school’s Doulos Dayprogram.Covenant Day participates in DoulosDays every semester, giving the studentsan opportunity to give back to the community.The name comes from the Greekword “doulos,” which is used in the NewTestament to mean “bondservant.”This semester, the students worked tohelp children in need have a brighter holidayseason.“We went to Samaritan’s Feet and spentthe day tying shoelaces and unpackingshoeboxes,” seventh-grader Meg Osowskisaid. “We were tying the shoes for peoplearound the world who don’t have anyshoes.”Samaritan’s Feet collects shoes anddistributes them to children in need. Theorganization taught the students aboutthe goals and origins of its efforts.“We learned about the basketballplayer who started Samaritan’s Feet,” saidseventh-grader Zachary Eagy, who spentthe day unpacking new shoes for anotherGive your family theperfect gift this Christmas...zA beautiful cabin in theNorth Carolina MountainsBear CreekA Deerwood Park Communitywww.thecharlotteweekly.comRegister to win aFREE3-day/2-night stayVisit our website for detailsgroup to lace. “He went to Africa and sawall of the people who didn’t have shoes, sohe decided to start collecting them. Hisgoal is to give 10 million shoes to 10 millionpeople in 10 years.”The basketball player, Manny Ohonme,was a child in Nigeria when a missionarygave him his first pair of shoes. Receivingthe shoes was instrumental in motivatinghim to work hard and eventually earn abasketball scholarship to a university inthe U.S.“We learned that in countries like Nigeria,one in five people don’t reach theage of 5 because of problems with theirfeet,” Eagy said. “It made us really think,because we get to choose the shoes wewant to wear each day, and some kidsdon’t have any at all.”Ohonme, who lives in Charlotte,founded Samaritan’s Feet in 2003 aftervisiting Nigeria and remembering whatreceiving shoes had meant to him.Learning about Ohonme and the 300million people worldwide without shoeshelped the students see the value in thework they were doing.“It was a lot of fun,” Osowski said. “Itwas hard work unpacking the shoes, butwe were with friends and we knew wewere doing it for a great cause.”While the sixth and seventh-graderswere helping out at Samaritan’s Feet, theeighth-graders gave their time to anotherDeveloper MODELCLOSE OUT SALE3 bedroom, 2 bathnext to a running creek.Only $279,000Mountain Home Sitesstarting at $24,900Cabins starting at $159,000Private gated communityless than 2 hours from CharlotteDiscover a lifestyle as magnificent as theNorth Carolina mountains themselves.336-372-8256866-686-5263www.deerwoodpark.comCabin Rentals Availableinfo@deerwoodpark.comorganization.“We were at Samaritan’s Purse, whereOperation Christmas Child shoeboxes gobefore they are sent around the world,”eighth-grader Megan Embry said. “Groupslike churches and schools get shoeboxesand fill them for kids who may not get anypresents.”Embry spent the day folding clothesfor the shoeboxes, but the organizationhad several tasks for the students to helpwith.“We had stations where people packedboxes and others where people checked tomake sure they were ready to be shipped,”eighth-grader Andy Dinsbeer said. “Wewould inspect them and then put themon a big cart for shipping.”Samaritan’s Feet shipped the shoeboxesto children in the country of Georgia thatvery afternoon.“When I got there, I felt like I couldn’tdo much because there was so much thatneeded to be done,” Embry said. “Butthen I worked all day, and when I left, Ifelt like I had made a difference. I felt likeI almost knew the kids who were going toget my boxes.”Leading up to Doulos Days, the studentscollected shoeboxes to contribute tothe cause. They took approximately 400with them to Samaritan’s Purse.“The Samaritan’s Purse goal was to sendout 2 million boxes this year,” DinsbeerzNOW OPEN!andEnrolling Students!NOW OPEN!andEnrolling Students!Give your child the gift ofCall now to reserve your space your space at our nextCall now to reserve your space your space at our nextPARENT TALK704-540-6363Students at Covenant Day spent two daysworking with Samaritan’s Feet and Samaritan’sPurse to make sure kids around the worldwould have a happy Christmas. Students arepictured here packing shoeboxes with clothing,which was later shipped out.said. “They sent out 1.9 million last year,so we really wanted to help them beat thatnumber this year.”There is still time to contribute toOperation Christmas Child. To donate,take a shoebox filled with gift items tothe Charlotte warehouse, at 7100 ForestPoint Blvd.Find o more about the organizations,visit www.samaritansfeet.org and www.samaritanspurse.org. qGive your child the gift ofAcademicandSocial andBehavioralSUCCESSFind out how BRAIN BALANCE ®®can help your child NOW!9101 9101 Pineville-Matthews Rd., Suite J, J, Pineville, Pineville, NC NC 28134 28134The Brain Balance Program® has has ten ten years years of of success success helping helpingchildren with AD/HD, Dyslexia, Autism Spectrum Disorders and andmore. Our program addresses why this is is happening to to so somany children, what is actually happening in in the the child's brainthat makes him/her behave this way, and howBRAIN BALANCE ® can help your child NOW.www.brainbalancecenters.comSouth Charlotte Weekly • Dec. 17-23, 2010 • Page 13Photo courtesy of Covenant Day