An outreach effort that brought two truckloads of clothing and promotional support to The Center for Compassion in Dover Plains has recently been completed.
The multi-week charitable drive was initiated by Dover Greens (a development company for Olivet University campus in Wingdale) and driven by Olivet Academy, a K-12 private Chris-tian school located on Olivet University campus.
The Center of Compassion’s mission is to, not only, provide for the practical needs of those less fortunate but also to nourish an environment of hope, trust and ultimately human libe-ration to those they serve. The group helps hundreds of children and families in the Dover area through their food pantry, thrift store and backpack programs, and is largely depen-dent on community support and donations.
With this in mind, Olivet Academy students jumped in and began their outreach project by visiting The Center of Compassion’s thrift store and received a hands-on lesson about the charity’s work by the Center’s Director, Lori Vincent.
In the following days students incorporated the biblical teaching of the Good Samaritan, about helping neighbors who are in need, and came up with the project name: Helping Every Life Project (HELP).
The students also designed posters in their effort to gather clothing for their project. As a supplemental education Olivet Academy teachers conducted lectures related to basics of retailing by Louise Armstrong: How to Turn Lemons into Money: A Child’s Guide to Economics.
Additional activities in this project included making of the promotional flyer designs which were distributed by the students to local retail establishments, library and other places to help increase the awareness of this local charity among the residents of Dover.
We are thankful for the opportunity to participate in this community project and allow our students to learn about charity work and its connection to the bible”, said Olivet Academy teacher, Claire Mendoza, who coordinated the HELP Project.
The campaign concluded with Dover Greens delivering of two full truckloads of used cloth-ing that was unloaded at the thrift store.
On behalf of The Center of Compassion – we are grateful for the Olivet community’s com-passionate heart and generosity”, said Director, Lori Vincent.
