Giving the reason for the season

By Paul Ruppel

The Intelligencer

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HORSHAM - More than 100 bags were piled outside a back door to Hatboro-Horsham High School. Students started filling a pick-up truck, an SUV, a minivan, then several cars.

Finally, they were ready for the convoy trip to a Kensington shelter to drop off the clothes, coats, shoes and blankets they had collected.

For the second straight year, Hatboro-Horsham students have paired up with inner-city students to serve the community through the Philadelphia Partnership Organization.

Advisor Rory Mikulski said so many students wanted to join up that they had to interview and vote on new members. The group can only have 20 members and they must be seniors.

Partnered with students from Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, this year's group has chosen to focus its attention on children.

The students are volunteering with an agency called SPIN, Special People In Northeast Inc., which provides support for infants, children and adults with disabilities, as well as Head Start services for children in low-income families.

In addition to their work with these organizations, the students opted to continue a project they did last year for the homeless - a clothing drive benefiting a Kensington shelter.

By posting signs around the school, sending e-mails, making announcements in their neighborhoods and more, they have spent seven weeks pulling together 100 bags, more than twice what they gathered last year. Faculty members were among the largest contributors.

There were so many bags in Mikulski's classroom that she used a janitor's room for extra storage. Assistance came from the group of 20 as well as others.

"I have to say, my classes were amazing about this," Mikulski said. "All they ever wanted to do was help. 'Do you need help folding? Can we help you move anything?' "

Of the students in the group, she said: "These students are very busy people, but they have made the time in their lives to help others. They are committed to being positive citizens."

Anna Vorobyeva, 17, of Horsham grew up in an apartment complex in the Olney section of the city before moving to the suburbs.

"A lot of people there, I think, were similar to the people we're helping out now," she said. "It's a nice way to help people where my family used to be."

Aleta Ostrander, 17, of Hatboro also was raised at a young age in the city. She was impressed with how much people donated.

"It's amazing. I'm speechless," she said. "... I don't think any of us have seen it all together until now. People are generous, but I didn't really expect the outcome that we got at all."

Paul Ruppel can be contacted via e-mail at .

Comments: Published in: DAILY A, B 1, 12-15-03