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The thuds of bouncing basketballs and schoolchildren’s excited clamors reverberated through the gym at William Meredith School, 725 S. Fifth St., as the education facility launched its second annual Hoops for Haiti.
The fundraiser, held April 13, was the initiative of eighth-grade teacher Kelly Schaaf.
Two summers ago after the January 2010 devastating earthquake that affected nearly three million people, Schaaf visited Haiti for 10 days in honor of her late grandmother. Traveling with her church, she volunteered at Hope for the Children of Haiti, a Christian-owned and operated school and orphanage in Bolosse, a borough of the country’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
“It was the first time that I had ever seen that kind of abject poverty — families without water, children without shoes — and it was just overwhelming to me,” she said.
Schaff was most struck that so few families could afford to send their children to primary school, and decided that something must be done.
Upon returning stateside, she made a video of her experience and showed it to other Meredith faculty members.
“At our first faculty meeting back from summer break, in September [2010], she showed us her video. And I was crying like a little baby,” physical education teacher Christopher Theodore, aka “Coach Theo” to the Queen Village institution, said.
With his coaching connections around the city, Theodore was able to conjure up support for last year’s event, “Skills and Drills,” which was held in conjunction with some of Philly’s most beloved professional teams. This year, though, the event took on a life of its own at Meredith.
Dressed in matching T-shirts and wearing wide smiles, student council members and the eighth-graders greeted students and staff as they entered the gym. Students in fourth- through eighth-grades paid $5 to cheer on the three-time defending state champions Neumann-Goretti boys’ basketball team as the Saints from 1736 S. 10th St. showed off their skills and joined in a slam-dunk fest and another $5 to participate in a students-versus-staff basketball game. Staff outscored the students 28-20, with Schaaf contributing 10 points to the winning team.
Younger schoolers were excited for the face-off.
“My best friends will be there,” fifth-grader David Palestini said prior to tipoff.
His favorite part of the event was meeting the basketballers and seeing the tall hoops stars hold up the children for some excellent slam-dunking.
“I’m glad we get to be here to gain hope for the kids in Haiti and to help them to learn,” the resident of Second and Morris streets said.
Last year, the fundraising secured almost $5,000. School-wide budget cuts cast a slight shadow on the hopes for an equally high turnout this year due to minimizing fundraising efforts. Still, organizers raised nearly $3,000, which will go toward academic scholarships for children residing in Bolosse. The average day-wage in Haiti is approximately $10, and the cost for a student to attend school at the Hope for the Children of Haiti school is roughly $350. With donations such as Meredith’s, the school has increased by 400 students since the 2010 earthquake.
Schaaf acknowledged that the further from the earthquake and thus the less media attention, the harder it is to motivate students to be energized to help those still suffering in Haiti. But this year, she and her dedicated crew of eighth-graders and student council members went from classroom to classroom, showing pictures from her trips and talking about her experiences.
“I’ve found that the kids [are more receptive] when you put [the issue] on their level and you say, ‘These are kids just like you who can’t go to school,’” Schaaf said.
The lack of a postal service in Haiti doesn’t deter Schaaf from carrying out her Good Samaritan intentions. She has visited Haiti a few times since her first visit, bringing school supplies and maintaining a relationship with the children at the school in Bolosse. With new restrictions for both health and safety reasons, and bag weight limits at airports, the trip is never easy.
“Even the airlines were more generous after the earthquake with how much you can bring down, and now if you’re a pound over, it’s like ‘Nope! You can’t take that.’ So, people’s compassion can waver,” she said.
Students at Meredith embraced the cause for Haiti with enthusiasm, as students and Schaff made a student-friendly video of Haiti students and their happy reactions to receiving school supplies and donations made possible through the Meredith community. The video also featured Meredith’s students showing support for their Haitian friends through “Go Crazy For Haiti Day,” whereupon students wore crazy clothes and hats for a chance to win a free ticket to the Hoops for Haiti festivities. When she returns to Haiti, Shaaf will take the video, thus allowing the students to “meet” their American well-wishers.
“There’s a song playing in the background, and [the video] shows everything [Schaff saw] in Haiti,” eighth-grader Kristina Scalia-Jackson, a resident of the 2600 block of South 11th Street, said.
“We get to see how happy they are, and how the simplest things make them so happy,” eighth-grader Christina Delulo, Meredith Student Council president and resident of the 1500 block of Wolf Street, added.
Christina said that student council participation was also a way for younger students to interact with their peers and understand the perspectives of other students. A raffle prize of Philly sports accouterments was one lucky youngster’s to take home at the end of the fundraising game day. All students were able to snag a chance to take home T-shirts, backpacks and wristbands handed out by the hoopsters.
But at the end of the day, it was the act of giving that made the event a special one.
“The fact that we can all come together as one and get a task done, although it might be time-consuming, is worth it,” Christina said. “Helping the less fortunate just makes us really appreciate what we have and not take things for granted.”
With its wild success, Schaff hopes to continue Meredith’s Hoops for Haiti as long as there is hope and need.
“It might look different every year, different people might show up each year, you might get $10 one year and $10,000 another year, but I think keeping the education and letting the kids know [year after year is important],” Schaaf said.
For more information on Hope for the Children of Haiti, visit hfchaiti.org.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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