Students gather supplies for orphanage in Russia

It's never too early for children to learn about service. Just ask Marilyn Larson.

Larson owns Corner Canyon Academy, a preschool for children ages 3-5, in Draper. The students recently participated in a humanitarian service project to provide bookbags filled with educational materials that will be taken to children living in an orphanage in Russia.

"This was an outstanding opportunity for children to be involved," Larson said.

In January 2006 a group with the K-2 Church in Salt Lake City was given the opportunity to sponsor a Russian orphanage. As part of the sponsorship, the church has to commit to make at least one trip to the orphanage each year to build relationships with the children and discover what their needs are.

Paula Pittman, one of the team leaders for the humanitarian group, said they took a trip to the orphanage in January for the Russian Orthodox Christmas celebration. They brought the children down coats, snowboots, gloves, hats and other winter supplies. The group will again travel to Russia from June 3-15, and this time the focus is on educational materials.

After hearing about the group from a friend, Larson decided this would be a perfect opportunity for her students to serve. Students were required to earn their own money to purchase supplies including notebooks, pencils, markers and boxes of crayons to put in bookbags for the Russian children. Once they had their money, their parents could take them to the store to purchase the items.

After two weeks the bookbags were put together and presented to Pittman's group during a special ceremony at the Draper Library May 23.

Pittman felt it was a positive experience for children so young to be involved in a service project.

"I think it's special because I think the sooner we give children in the U.S. the opportunity to give and to understand that they're impacting the lives of others (the better)," Pittman said. "I think if preschoolers here learn early and carry (this knowledge) through their lives, they will be more effective human beings and more giving."

Larson said the service project fits in with the school's curriculum, which strives to teach preschoolers pre-schoolers a variety of life skills in addition to academics.

"My goal is to teach as many children as I can to love learning and, in the process, build self-esteem and confidence," she said.

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com