Posted by: thepinetree on 12/28/2013 01:32 PM
Updated by: thepinetree on 12/28/2013 01:32 PM
Expires: 01/01/2018 12:00 AM
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School Assignment Leads To Charitable Outreach
Murphys, CA...Transforming an assigned school project into a way to help less privileged children in a far off land is the goal of Clara Keirns, an eighth-grade student at the Sierra Waldorf School in Jamestown. The school requires all eighth-graders to choose something new to learn, engage the help of a mentor, and create a project. Clara decided she wanted to learn calligraphy and sought out Sister Terry Davis of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton to help her....
Sr. Terry, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame, is the Director of Communications for the diocese. Before she took on her current assignment she taught Art, English, and Religion in Catholic high schools and worked at the Catholic Television Center in Menlo Park. Having been a student and teacher of calligraphy for over 40 years, she graciously accepted Clara’s request to be her mentor.
Together they worked to fashion a project that was both creative and unique. It turned out to be a calendar containing famous quotes taken from the book Transform Your Life, by Cheri Huber. A quote was selected for each month and Clara painstakingly made it an art-piece using her skill as a calligrapher. Having completed her project, Clara decided to take the next step, to use her newly developed talent to raise funds for a worthy cause.
As a very young child, Clara had been introduced to Living Compassion when her parents would go the organization’s annual fundraising walks in San Francisco. She drew on that memory to learn about the Living Compassions Africa - Vulnerable Children Project and chose it to be the recipient of her charity. The project operates in Kantolomba, a small slum area outside of Ndola, Zambia. It provides proper nutrition, safe housing, health care, employment, clean water and education for the people of the area. There are currently 800 children in its nutrition program.
“I decide to make copies of my calendar, sell them, and send the money to help the project,” says Clara. “I think it is a way to create a bond between my school and children in Africa.”
Clara has priced the calendar at $25, with proceeds overproduction costs going to the Africa project. They may be purchased at the Out of Hand creative arts center, 189 S. Washington St., Sonora, and Sustenance Books, 150 Big Trees Rd., Murphys.
Clara, 14, lives in Murphys with her parents Andrew Keirns, territory sales manager for Sandvick Technology, and Susan Deax-Keirns, clinical director for the Mind Matters Clinic. She has a brother, David, who is ten, and a sister, Sophia, who is seven.
For further information call (209) 559-5634.
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