The annual Angel Project, sponsored by the Fayette County Public School System’s Children at Risk in Education (CARE) program, is in full swing, granting wishes of students whose families are struggling financially.
School counselors have identified students from all grade levels who meet the criteria for inclusion in the Angel Project.
Parents or guardians must be employed, or seeking employment, and have financial difficulties in meeting basic living needs and expenses. Donors can be assured that students and their families are fully vetted before being added to the project.
Traditional gifts of toys, bicycles, games and other fun items are requested by students, but their wishes also include items that many people take for granted such as bed sheets, underwear, toothpaste, laundry detergent, deodorant, bath soap and shampoo.
The goal of the Angel Project is to meet the needs of students so that they feel they are on equal footing with their peers, putting them more at ease at school and freeing their minds to concentrate on their education.
Sometimes in order to achieve this, it is necessary to reach out to the family, as well.
Some students live in homes without heat or electricity and others do not have beds, or pots and pans for cooking. Each year, the Angel Project helps families by providing them with goods and services to meet basic needs in the home environment, which ultimately impacts a student’s ability to perform at school.
There are several ways the community can help with this year’s Angel Project.
People can “adopt” a student from a Fayette County School by visiting the Fayette County Board of Education, 210 Stonewall Avenue in Fayetteville, or the LaFayette Learning Center, Building D, 205 LaFayette Avenue in Fayetteville (behind Arby’s), from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday. Both locations have an Angel Tree from which to sponsor a student.
Also, gift cards to big box retailers that sell groceries in addition to clothes, toiletries and home goods, such as Target or Wal-Mart, and monetary donations can be dropped off at the Fayetteville locations through Dec. 12. Although the Angel Project is once a year, the CARE program provides assistance to students all school year, and CARE always accepts donations. To learn more details about the Angel Project and its sponsor program, CARE, watch the video on the Fayette County Public School System’s website, www.fcboe.org.
