Overdue lunch accounts at a Franklin school were paid off, a police department got money for supplies and animals waiting for adoption were fed, due to the work of area children.
At Pilsung ATA Martial Arts in Greenwood, attaining a black belt requires not just discipline and aptitude in martial arts, but a desire to help the community.
Last week, three students, 11-year-old Kellen Shaff, 10-year-old Michael Whitted and 12-year-old Jacob Whitaker learned they earned their black belts after years of classes. Those students completed their projects during the past four months, raising thousands of dollars for the causes they chose to support, said Rose Myers, owner of Pilsung ATA Martial Arts.
“It’s something we felt very strongly about,” Myers said of the community service requirement. “We’ve always encouraged black belts to not only meet the fitness requirements of martial arts but they have to write a letter summarizing what they’ve learned over the past three to five years to accomplish their black belt. It’s very introspective. They do a service project and have to write a paper about that as well.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The summary paper includes what the student wanted to achieve and what they accomplished, Myers said.
When Shaff saw some students at Custer Baker Intermediate School couldn’t afford hot meals, he took it upon himself to make sure any lunch debts were cleared. His original goal was to pay off 100 meals by raising $270. He ended up raising $1,300, he said.
“The best thing about the project was being able to know I can help a lot of families with food and making school not a stressful environment towards lunchtime,” Shaff said. “Hopefully this relieves stress for parents.”
Shaff launched a social media campaign to raise funds. His biggest donor, Love More, a non-profit organization in Franklin, donated $540, Shaff said.
Whitted raised $1,000 for the Whiteland Police Department after learning they needed money for supplies and equipment, although the department didn’t give further detail, Myers said.
Whitted learned about the need through his father, who is friends with Jason Davis, a Whiteland police officer. To collect money, Whitted and his parents set up donation boxes at Thai Basil restauarant in Brownsburg and Wat Indiana Buddha Vanaram, a Buddhist temple in Indianapolis.
Whitaker centered his service project on his love of animals. After setting up a collection area at Neil Armstrong Elementary School in Mooresville, students and their families dropped off almost 100 pounds of cat and dog food, which Whitaker donated to the Morgan County Humane Society.
“My favorite part of doing this project is helping the animals, taking care of the animals and bringing food,” Whitaker said. “I feel excited about becoming a black belt.”
Seeing students complete their service projects and surpass their goals is a source of pride for Myers, she said.
“I am super proud of them,” Myers said. “We live in such a doom-and-gloom world with shootings and major accidents and we’re pelted with negative news. This was a pretty amazing thing the kids were doing.”
