Community Service Fuels Sparrow Program

Sparrowclubs.org

Gresham’s new sparrow Lauren T. smiling.

Juliette Ramirez-Torres, Staff Writer

 Wondering how you can help those less fortunate than you? The Sparrow Club program offers a fantastic opportunity for you to get involved in your community while helping a local child in a medical crisis. 

  This program uses community service hours and turns it into money; one hour equals 10 dollars. This money then goes towards the “sparrow” of our school. The money raised will help with both medical and daily expenses for the family of the sparrow. 

  “The Sparrow Clubs program teaches life lessons in compassion and selflessness through building relationships between a Sparrow family, a school student body, and our community,” program coordinator Laura Queen said. 

  This program has created a win-win situation for everyone involved. Most importantly all this work goes towards our sparrow. Lauren is a two-year-old who has been diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Her mother works in the school district and the goal is for every GHS student to contribute at least one hour of their time in some way. Brian Davis and his renaissance leadership students have been preparing this partnership for months now.

  “We are trying to accomplish love actually. We show her that we are fighting right along beside her and that outside of her household she has another family,” junior and renaissance student Peri Leo said.

  By coming together as a school, we have the power to make a difference in her life and the community as well. 

  “It sounds like fun, seems easy to track and it’s to help Lauren,“ junior Tyler Hockert said.

  Hockert plans on making love rocks with a friend and then distributing them around for people to find. He picked this idea from the idea list provided by the Sparrow program, which is linked below. This program has made a simple and effective way for students to help their Sparrow.

  “Sick kids get help, healthy kids become heroes and communities experience change,” Queen said.

  Remember to stay safe and social distance when performing community service. To track your hours, you’ll need to turn in a Service voucher, click on the link and fill out the google form. Service Voucher for Lauren 

  If you are struggling to come up with ideas for community service, here is a link with ideas given by the Sparrow Club as well as the connections needed. It also lists what services are not accepted. Sparrow Clubs Service and Connections 

  There is an app for iPhone or iPad that allows students and staff to stay connected with their Sparrow. It is free and available in the app store. Sparrow iPhone App 

  If you want to learn more about Lauren’s story, click on the link to read her page on the Sparrow website. Lauren’s Story