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S.M.I.L.E. raises money for nursery

Students from the ETE 445 class work a bake sale to raise money for Crittenton Center Nursery. Photo by Anna Foley.
Students from the ETE 445 class work a bake sale to raise money for
Crittenton Center Nursery. Photo by Anna Foley.

Dietra Kuester’s ETE 445 class runs Project Students Making an Impact and Leading Education (S.M.I.L.E.) every year, where the class chooses one organization to donate money to.

This year’s students chose the Crittenton Center Nursery. Crittenton is a non-profit for child abuse prevention services. Parents can drop off their infants and young children from birth to six years of age for up to 72 hours with no charge. The children receive formula, food, diaper changes and shelter.

“One of our first classes consisted of a group collaboration about which organization to focus our funds to,” senior special education major Kally Kibitlewski said. “We discussed pros and cons of each option, and in the end, agreed that the Crittenton Center was the best choice.”

Kuester gives each class $150 as seed money to host fundraisers for their chosen institution. Classes have done the project every fall since 2010 and donated to causes such as the tornado relief in Washington, as well as Joplin, Missouri. A class in the past raised $1,300 and the students this year hope to exceed that amount.

“We have had a few fundraising events so far,” senior mathematics major Claire Annes said. “We have had a continuous GoFundMe page online. We had a fundraiser night at Double A’s in Peoria, where 10 percent of proceeds went to our event.”

The group also held a bake sale Wednesday in the Michel Student Center where Bradley faculty and students had the opportunity to donate. None of the food or drinks were priced and all proceeds went directly to Crittenton.

“This was an important cause for us because we have been in so many of the Peoria area schools and have seen the need of many families,” senior Spanish major Christina Miller said. “The families and children that we teach may be the same ones who have benefitted from the services of the Crittenton Center.We want all children to have the best chance at a quality education, and one of the first steps is making sure their basic needs are met.”

In addition to donating to a worthwhile cause, the class teaches students how to work together toward a common goal, according to Kuester. The course provides real-world experience, because collaboration is a necessary skill in the teaching field.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these future educators,” Kuester said. “They continue to amaze me in how far they’re willing to go above and beyond to continue giving back to the community. They absolutely rock.”

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