If you are a teacher or leader of an organization and interested in partnering with Grandmas Gift to learn about community service and then hold a project let us know! The projects below are ones in which we normally set up a learning-serving relationships, yet we are open to new ideas and possibilities!
If you have ideas or are interested in setting up a learning-serving relationship email us at Emily.Douglas@GrandmasGifts and type Learning and Serving in the subject heading for a quicker response or call us at (614) 388-9007!
We have worked with Girl Scout Troops, Boy Scout Troops, Elementary, Middle, and High Schools, nonprofits, for-profits, religous organizations, and we are even working with a graduate professor at The Fisher College of Business to design a class about Appalachia and social entrepreneurship!
Learning & Serving Projects:
Valentines for Veterans
This project is used as a teaching tool for kids with whom we share the call to service. This project lets them see how easily they can touch the lives of others. With supplies such as construction paper, stickers, markers, doilies, crayons, glue, and lots of glitter purchased by Grandmas Gifts, over 9,000 valentines have been made by college, elementary, middle, and high school students. These beautiful valentines are then shipped to a VA hospital in Chillicothe, Ohio and Huntington, West Virginia.
Trick-or-Teeth!
At Grandmas Gifts we believe that kids who establish healthy habits early in life, will carry that behavior into adulthood. Having worked with the health departments in the past, we were greatly disturbed by the number of children without items for proper dental care. Due to the SWEETNESS of Halloween, we figured there was no better time to start taking care of your teeth than now. For such an occasion and for Make-A-Difference Day, we organized Trick-or-Teeth! in conjunction with Trick-or-Treat. Thus, throughout October we worked with high school groups, middle school classes, and graduate students to collect toothbrushes, toothpaste, and dental floss, to send to county and city health departments in Appalachia. Trick-or-Teeth! is about changing someones life, one tooth brush at a time!
Spring Clean Book Drive
This has become Grandmas Gifts signature project. What began with asking friends and neighbors to donate books as they clean their closets and shelves each spring has grown into a project resulting in the donation of more than 650,000 books to Appalachia. Each spring I approach a local school district and ask for their help in collecting books. Each child is given a flier to take home which explains the project and asks for the donation of new or gently used children's books. Collection boxes are placed in local grocery stores, libraries, and community centers. Through the generosity of thousands of members of my community, several elementary schools now have lending libraries. Collections of books have also been placed in hospitals, battered family shelters, health clinics, child welfare agencies, and bookmobiles. Now that word of our book collecting has become common knowledge in my community, books are regularly being dropped at my home. I am very grateful to the thousands of children and families who have reached out to help children in need.
Educational Experiences: Field Trips and Special Occasions
COSI ON WHEELS 1999 - Through a grant from the Escape Corporation, Grandmas Gifts brought the Columbus Center of Science and Industry Science on Wheels program to the students of a needy Appalachian school. This program provided a day of hands-on science with a lot of fun! Emily then recruited kids from her high school to help as well as high school students from the receiving school district.
COSI TRIP 2000- In May 2000 Grandmas Gifts was able to bring 125 kids to COSI for the day! This trip was made possible by The Dublin Rotary, individual supporters, and COSI! We all had a great time and even got to go see a show in the dome theater.
ZOO TRIP 2000- In May 2000 Grandmas Gifts made it possible to bring 250 kids to the zoo, with help from The Dublin Rotary, Sears, and a few individual supporters. Not only was this trip educational but fun! We ended the day with cool Popsicles!
COSI ON WHEELS 2002 By partnering with the Womens Club of Ironton, Ohio we were able to again bring the Columbus Center of Science and Industry Science on Wheels program to the students of a needy Appalachian school. This program provided a day of hands-on science with a lot of fun! We blasted off into space!
Rainbow Project
After the floods that literally washed Appalachian towns down mountainsides ended and the damage was surveyed, it became more apparent that everyone needed some help. In years past Grandmas Gifts had worked to provide book bags and school supplies to Appalachian children, yet it seemed that more people needed help. Thus the Rainbow Project was born. Everyone needs markers, pencils, paper, and a ruler to go back to school in the fall, yet these much needed supplies are expensive and not every family can afford such items. Originally a Make-A-Difference Day project, Gifts collects school supplies to send to schools and children for their return to school in the fall. These donations were to be the light at the end of the storm.