As students all across the globe have been forced to convert some part of their home into a school desk due to remote learning conditions during the pandemic, not everyone has been able to find the best solution. Fortunately, for members of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor, there are some great people at the Benton Harbor Sunrise Rotary Club working to resolve that.
With the transition from in-classroom to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, students are trying to find a place to study. Many times, kitchen tables or coffee tables are stand-ins for classroom desks. Sometimes the bed, the floor or a lap is all that is available in homes where extra furniture may be considered but not easily afforded. In those instances, concentration for the student is exceedingly difficult.
On October 18, 2020, NBC Nightly News presented a segment entitled “Family’s Mission to Provide Desks for Kids in Need“ which covered Mitch Couch, a father who – out of necessity- built desks for his two children who were struggling with remote classroom learning. He realized that for all children in remote learning situations, there is a “need to separate home life from school life.” At the time of the report, he and his family had built more than 60 desks for families in need, children in foster care and shelters.
Here in Michigan’s Great Southwest, Brent Glendening was watching that evening and he contacted his friend Dave Hertog. Together they watched Couch’s YouTube tutorial. Brent and Dave knew what they wanted to do but were not sure how to reach area children who were truly in need. They contacted the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor and brought in their sample builds on January 6th to present to Director of Operations Liji Hanny and Volunteer Coordinator Kyra Utroske who is also a member of the Benton Harbor Sunrise Rotary Club.
Liji recognized how the project would impact local families and Kyra invited Brent to present the project at the next Rotary Club Zoom meeting, as it aligned perfectly with their mission for community outreach.
During his presentation the following week, Brent stated the desks cost between $20.00 – $28.00 depending on building materials. To some, that is not much money, but for those struggling with budgeting needs and job loss, it can be the choice between building a desk – if they have the tools – and food on the table.
Rotary Club members agreed to assist and to participate in a matching grant to raise $1,500.00 to be used towards building desks for kids in 1st to 6th grades who are in need and whose parents would not otherwise be able to buy a desk for their child.
Brian Saxton, former Rotary Club president and past CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor, knows that a conducive home learning environment is not just a need during a pandemic. It provides the foundation for academic success, impacts school attendance, grades, development of study habits, and increasing skills proficiency. Providing individual home study desks to vulnerable Benton Harbor, Benton Harbor “School of Choice,” and students within local school districts directly facilitates success in school. He immediately drew up a proposal to raise funds for the “Home School Desks for Vulnerable Students” project to present to the Berrien Community Foundation and for the Heart of Cook grant in hopes to raise enough money to build 500 desks in 2021.
With the help of Brent and Dave and in cooperation with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor, the Benton Harbor Sunrise Rotary Club hopes there will be a growing number of interested community partners. Already, the St. Joseph-Benton Harbor Kiwanis Club, Southwest Michigan Newcomers Club, and others have expressed an interest to assist financially and as volunteers.
Brent and Dave built 15 desks over the course of three weeks, and 13 of those desks were given to families in need through the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor on January 27th.
This morning, the Benton Harbor Sunrise Rotary Club became, with its members, the Benton Harbor Interact Club teens and other community volunteers, part of the growing army of desk builders inspired by Brent and Dave. At the same time, they are honoring the Rotary Club’s mission to improve literacy, numeracy, and the personal development of the youth in Benton Harbor as well as Rotary International’s vision statement; “Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”
In a desk building event this morning at Consumers Investments, located at 355 Gray Street in Benton Harbor, the Benton Harbor Sunrise Rotary Club partnered with the Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor as members and volunteers affiliated with the club built a number of desks supported by local volunteers.
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market shows one of the desks presented late last month to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor, an example of what was being crafted during today’s desk build project in Benton Harbor. The photo is courtesy of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Benton Harbor.
