How, who to help

        Donations to the 2001 Wish List are lagging behind the record-setting pace of last year.

        The annual project to help needy people in Greater Cincinnati is sponsored by The Cincinnati Enquirer and administered by United Way. This month 24 short profiles appeared in the newspaper.

        As of Thursday, $106,942 had been received from 1,394 donors. At the same point last year, 1,403 people had donated $137,068.

Second graders in Jennifer Crawford's class at Loveland Primary School raised more than $1,500. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        This year's total doesn't include 1,522 raised as of Wednesday by Loveland Primary School students.

        The school's involvement began in the second-grade classroom of teacher Jennifer Crawford. Her students have been reading holiday books, spurring discussion about the spirit of giving. One day this month she read them a Wish List story. It told of Hayley Trimbach, a 9-year-old Lebanon girl — like Miss Crawford's students, a second-grader — who has trouble speaking. Complications from meningitis she contracted as an infant resulted in her condition, called verbal apraxia. A “talking” computer, a Dynamyte 3100, would allow her to put together sentences and spell out words.

        “I said (to students), "Wouldn't it be really neat if we could help out somehow?' ” Miss Crawford says. “And the ideas just started flowing.”

        Her 25 students recently completed projects on the Pilgrims, which led to discussions about chores. And so the second-graders decided to challenge all 600 of the school's students to raise $5 each by doing household jobs.

        “We talked a lot about actually raising the money, not just saying, "Mom, I need $5,' ” Miss Crawford says.

        Students folded laundry, loaded and unloaded dishwashers, cleaned toilets, rearranged cabinets. Not everyone earned $5, but one family sent $50 with a note saying they all pitched in. Every student donor will receive a hand-made bell necklace, made by Miss Crawford's class.

        Lynne Riley, a speech pathologist with the Warren County Board of Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities, visited the school. She works with Hayley, and demonstrated the device the girl needs.

        “We talked about how lucky we are to be able to communicate with our friends,” Miss Crawford says.

        Students also have been polishing their math skills as they sort and count donations and make graphs tracking their progress. Later, students will write letters to Hayley.

        At least one person profiled in the Wish List has already received what she needed, while several other gifts have been pledged. The old bed and mattress that gouged Laura Hathman's back every night has been replaced.

        “It's quite a difference,” the 87-year-old Covington woman says. “It's more comfortable. I appreciate it very much.”

        In addition to a bed, headboard, mattress and box springs, Mrs. Hathman, a disabled widow, received a night stand, dresser and comforter set.

        After wishes are granted to people profiled in the newspaper, remaining money is distributed to participating social-service agencies, so other disadvantaged people can benefit.

        To make a donation, call 721-7900.

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