By FRANK SOJAK
The 58 preschoolers at the Greater Johnstown Christian Academy in Richland Township are not only getting ready for school, but also are in training to become good citizens.
The school is reinforcing one of the values that their parents are teaching them, and that is to help people in need.
Each month, the pupils, ages 3 to 5, collect missionary offerings from family and friends and hold monthly bake sales to help charities, both locally and abroad.
One of their missions is literally bringing a smile to others.
During Christmastime, the pupils raised $600 for Smile Train, a New York City-based charity that helps children around the globe who were born with a cleft lip and palate.
According to the organization’s Web site, cleft lips and palates are a major problem in developing countries where many children are suffering with unrepaired clefts because their families can’t afford the surgery.
The Web site said that children with a cleft can be helped with a surgery that costs as little as $250.
The Web site said it has provided free surgeries for children in 78 countries during the past 10 years.
Lori Patrick, academy secretary and coordinator for the Smile Train project at the school, said Smile Train empowers local doctors, nurses and hospitals through partnerships to solve the problem themselves. By providing free equipment, free education and training and ongoing financial support, Smile Train is helping poor communities become self-sufficient one smile at a time.
Doctors and hospitals donate their services as part of the partnership, she said.
Patrick, also the church secretary, said the students, with the help of parents, raised the money during a birthday party for Jesus in December at a pizzeria. The goal was to raise enough for one surgery.
“We raised $600,” she said.
“It was awesome. I couldn’t believe it. It was beyond what we expected.
“It was a wonderful feeling. It says a lot about our preschoolers’ parents. The parents have kind hearts. You can see what they are instilling into their children,” she said.
Patrick said the school chose Smile Train to help because it’s a charity where children can help other children to have a “Christian smile.”
One family at the Greater Johnstown Christian Fellowship, which runs the school, adopted a Chinese girl who has undergone surgeries to repair a cleft lip and palate, she said.
Jason and Amy Cook brought their daughter, Mya, to the birthday party for Jesus to meet the preschoolers, she said.
“It was nice to have her there,” Patrick said. “It makes it more real to them. Mya’s mother wanted to show Mya that she is just like them.”
Amy Cook said that it takes a couple of surgeries to repair cleft lips and palates. Her daughter received one in China through a charity before they adopted her. She said after they adopted Mya last summer, they brought her home, where she had two more surgeries that were covered by their insurance.
“She’s doing well,” Cook said.
“It (surgeries) gives these normal children a chance to speak properly and not struggle to eat or drink.
“What Smile Train and other similar charities are doing is giving these children a chance at a normal life,” Cook added.
In China, children with cleft lips and palates are not socially accepted, and that’s why Mya was placed for adoption, she said.
Cook said she learned about Smile Train at church during a presentation by the school children a couple of years ago.
“I’m proud to be a part of a church that does something like that for children,” she said.
Pastor Jim Gay, assistant pastor at Greater Johnstown Christian Fellowship, said Patrick’s enthusiasm for the project has been contagious and that the children were the catalyst in raising money.
“The children were excited knowing that the money they raised would help a child overseas about their age,” he said.
“From that, they brought money from their piggybanks and encouraged family members to give.”
The children come from not only their church, but also other churches in the area, he said.
“In essence, it’s a great show of unity,” he said.
Each month, Patrick, preschoolers and teachers conduct fundraisers to raise money to help local ministries such as New Day in Johnstown and an orphanage in Lima, Peru, which the church built about
10 years ago, he said.
“It’s a program that teaches them the importance of helping people and that every little bit helps to touch the world,” he said.
Patrick and her husband, Kevin, have three children, Alyssa, 16, Luke, 11, and Olivia, 5. The five enjoy spending time together and cheering each other on in their endeavors.
