https://linebet-bangladesh.com/en/mobile

Hillsborough elementary school student aids California fire victims

Date:

Share post:

As the detrimental “Camp Fire” continues to persist throughout Northern California, people all over the country have been looking for ways to aid the victims.

Included in this concerned group is a young boy from Hillsborough.

- Advertisement -

After seeing images of the fire’s devastation to the town of Paradise, California, five-year-old Benjamin Steinhauser was inspired to find a way to reach out to those affected, specifically school children in the community.

“Ben saw on the news when the fires were happening in California, what was happening in the city of Paradise and that their school burned down and that their kids didn’t have homes and how hard the area was hit,” said Mandi Steinhauser, Benjamin’s mother. “It was later that night when he was watching the news that he said, ‘Mom, we have to do something,’ and later that night he said these children need help.”

As Benjamin’s concern for the people of Paradise persisted, Steinhauser knew something had to be done.

In letting Benjamin decide on an initiative to reach out, he chose to design and write holiday cards for the students of Paradise Elementary School (PES), who not only lost their school, but their homes and neighborhoods as well.

Alongside his eight-year-old sister, Madelyn, Benjamin began using materials such as glitter and construction paper to craft the cards for students, but as the project began, Steinhauser said that he wanted to do more.

“From there, he wanted all his classmates from school to get involved and wanted every student at PES to receive a greeting card from Hillsborough,” she said.

After Steinhauser pitched the idea at a Home School Association meeting, she said the teachers and adminsitrators were more than supportive of Benjamin’s idea.

With help from his fellow classmates at Woodfern Elementary School as well as multiple friends from his taekwondo class and Kindergarten enrichment classes, Benjamin soon had a team of youngsters working together to ensure that every student at PES would receive a card.

As part of the school’s other charitable causes, Benjamin’s influence on students through his holiday card project coincided with the school’s efforts to make cards for the Wounded Warrior Project as well.

Given Benjamin’s efforts to get his school community involved with his project, Steinhauser noted that it left an impression on multiple students whose parents reached out to her to acknowledge her son.

“I’d get emails and text messages from parents whose kids were going home and telling them about what Ben did,” Steinhauser said. “He’s really teaching people to care. It struck conversation and it opened kids’ eyes.”

After weeks of designing cards and collecting them, Steinhauser reached out to school officials at PES, who she said were moved by Benjamin’s project.

“I spoke with a representative from PES on Dec. 3, the day the returned to school, and they were so warm to the idea that a five-year-old across the country was so touched,” she said.

Although Steinhauser said the project impressed many people in the Hillsborough community, she felt it was representation of Benjamin’s caring nature as he also enjoys playing football, baseball and cooking outside of school.

“My job as a parent is to support my children’s dreams, so when he has this dream to reach out and make a difference in other people’s lives, I had to help make it happen for him,” she said.

Stay Connected

1,035FansLike
1,678FollowersFollow

Current Issue

Latest News

Related articles

‘Something’s gotta give’

When it comes to the annual budget, Schools Superintendent Michael Volpe tends to be on the conservative side....

River Road reconstruction to begin

Somerset County will begin the reconstruction of River Road in Hillsborough north of the historic Elm Street Bridge and along...

Read Across America

Courtesy of Hillsborough Township Mayor Robert Britting Jr. participates in Read Across America.

Two Hillsborough residents to screen films at Garden State Film Festival

New Jersey’s Premier Independent Film Festival is celebrating its 22nd anniversary March 21 to 24. The internationally recognized Garden State Film Festival (GSFF) celebrates the independent film genre by bringing a...