Delta Middle School creates Jared Boxes for hospital

STATE COLLEGE — The students of State College Area School District’s Delta Program Middle School created 150 Jared Boxes. The Delta Community Service Committee held a toy drive and a coin drive to collect supplies to create the boxes.

Kat Hoffman, Delta Community Service Committee advisor, stated, “The students in the Community Service Club were so excited they could make a real impact on others in our community, and it was a delight to see how hard they worked to make the all-middle-school event happen.”

Kendall Lingenfelter and Grace Wede are Delta students who organized and spearheaded the Jared Box event.  Lingenfelter commented, “It felt great to know that we helped so many kids and brightened their day. It was a really fun experience to organize, and I hope I get to do things like it in the future.” Wede added, “I thought it was great to organize an all-school activity, especially one like Jared Boxes. It was great to see the school working together to make Jared Boxes. I am so happy to be one to organize it. I thought it was a great experience and I would love to do it again.”

Jon Downs, program director at Delta, shared, “One of our main goals at the Delta Program is to develop thoughtful citizens who can learn how to serve others. This is a great example of putting this into practice through a school-based community service initiative.”

The Jared Box Project is a nationally recognized nonprofit that was started in State College. The mission of the Jared Box Project is to entertain and put a smile on the faces of children in the hospital. Each box contains small gifts, toys, games, crayons, coloring books and fun activities.

The Jared Box Project was started in 2001 by the children of Our Lady of Victory School in State College to honor their classmate and friend, Jared. He was a brave little boy who battled cancer with the courage and faith that continues to inspire us all. Since then, more than 900,000 Jared Boxes have been delivered across the United States. Boxes filled with the “gift of play” are given to young patients in emergency rooms, hospital rooms, surgical centers and clinics.

“We are honored and overjoyed by the overwhelming support of the Delta Program. The Jared Box Project continues through the kindness of others. The efforts of these students are so heartwarming. They certainly experienced firsthand the importance and joy of helping others,” said Cindy Kolarik, executive director, The Jared Box Project.