Students at Crescent City Baptist School in Metairie had collected
canned goods for the Louisiana Baptist Childrens Home for 10 years.
Last year, they decided to do more.
Last year, they decided to buy the home a van.
And using their allowances and lunch money – they did.
Crescent City Baptist School enrolls about 700 students from
preschool to high school. During the final two months of 2002, all the students
at the school participated in a fundraiser that netted more than $18,000.
Students at Crescent City Baptist School in Metairie had collected
canned goods for the Louisiana Baptist Childrens Home for 10 years.
Last year, they decided to do more.
Last year, they decided to buy the home a van.
And using their allowances and lunch money – they did.
Crescent City Baptist School enrolls about 700 students from
preschool to high school. During the final two months of 2002, all the students
at the school participated in a fundraiser that netted more than $18,000.
That translated into a much-needed van for the Louisiana Baptist
Childrens Home.
The action further cemented the ties between the school and
the Louisiana Baptist home. Indeed, students at the school have been involved
in giving to the home for more than 10 years, primarily through the annual Fall
Food Roundup to supply canned goods for the home.
“Every year, we have made it our goal to give more food
than any other church or organization,” says Jerry Riggs, principal at
Crescent City Baptist School.
The school contributed more than 10,000 items to the home each
year and does rank as one of the largest contributors to the annual Fall Food
Roundup, says Darrell Washam, interim executive director of the childrens
home.
However, this year, school leaders decided they wanted to do
more than collect canned goods. They decided to buy a van to donate to the boys
and girls at the home.
Riggs says he thought of the idea after hearing of the need
at the childrens home. The decision was not without precedent. After all,
the school had raised the funds needed for a bus in less than a week in 2001.
“I got a letter from the childrens home saying that
they were in need of vans,” Riggs relates.
“I said, If God can give us a bus in five days,
then he can get a van for the childrens home.”
The school began collecting funds from students and parents
on November 1. Before the Christmas break, the total had reached almost $19,000,
Riggs reports.
“I didnt think they could pull it off,” Washam
admits. “They did it in about a month and a half.
“That is pretty phenomenal.”
The contribution was made official on January 22, when Crescent
City Baptist School leaders presented home administrators with a new 2002 Dodge
Caravan. The presentation was made at the school, so the students could be involved.
“We had the whole school out front,” Riggs says.
“And not only did they have the van, but they had it packed
with food,” Washam adds.
Riggs says the school uses the relationship with the childrens
home to teach students about the importance of missions and giving.
“It is a great way for them to teach their students and
parents about stewardship,” Washam agrees.
“It educates them about participating in missions,”
Riggs says. “Instead of buying their lunch, the kids could give their money
toward the van. They respond to that sort of thing.”
However, for Riggs, the effort was not only educational. It
also helped familiarize the students with the ministry of the childrens
home and gave them a chance to get involved in helping, he says.
“Those are lasting things that you cant teach in
Sunday School or in a sermon,” he notes.
“You have to experience them.”
Fundraising for the van was beneficial to Riggs, as well as
the students, he acknowledges. “Its really an extension of faith,”
he says. “When you trust the Lord, and you really believe what he says,
it happens.”
The 15-passenger van is being used at Cheatham House, the Baton Rouge-area
campus of the childrens home.