Dogs with wings
Young volunteers create holiday decorations to benefit families, troops
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ST. IGNATIUS — Seventh-grader Michaela Corbin said they call themselves “Dogs with Wings” because they are Bulldogs and they are helpers, almost like angels, to the individuals and families they touch.
And tonight they gather after school hours in a middle school classroom to assemble tiny pinecone reindeer and pine tree laced wreaths. The youngsters do this in order to fund their mission of helping those in need during the holiday season.
For the past seven years, the club of volunteers has purchased items on lists for families on the Share the Spirit tree, which assists Lake County families with toys and clothes during Christmas.
Last year, students worked at the Poverello Center in Missoula making sandwiches. This year, they decided to buys gifts for the troops.
The middle school students have used their creative abilities to craft holiday decorations to sell at Rod’s Harvest Foods and at basketball games.
Dogs with Wings members have also recruited the help of high school students and community members such as Virginia Dally, who makes Bulldog earrings, and Connie Plaissay, a retired florist, who taught students how to make the wreaths.
The group asks for donations, but the 14-inch wreaths usually go for $25 and the larger size of 18 inches for $50. Handmade ornaments sell for $5 and the pinecone reindeer sell for $3.
On this particular night, the group invited families to help in the festivities.
“I just like helping the kids who don’t get anything,” said Tate Weingart, 15, who attended the event with his mother Dee Dee Weingart.
The two clumped heaps of pine tree boughs in their hands as they arranged them around a metal circle to form a wreath.
“The biggest lesson is compassion,” said sixth-grade teacher Dorothy von Holtum of the fundraising. She also said the project helps teach students math since they have to figure out the cost of things and what to charge people. Students also write in their journals what they like best about being in Dogs with Wings.
When all the money is raised, students will break into groups to buy gifts.
“They really take it personal when they shop,” teacher Valerie Umphrey said of the gift-buying process.
“I just love it,” confessed sixth-grader Kanyon Stevens. “I love helping the community.”
