ALLENTOWN: Student ambassadors ready for goodwill journeys

By Jenna Kunze, Staff Writer
   ALLENTOWN — The People to People Student Ambassador program, which provides high school students with educational travel experiences and community service opportunities, has opened a new chapter at Allentown High School.
   Danielle Klehr, of Millstone, an Allentown High School junior, recently received permission from the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education to start the chapter here and is busy organizing the group’s first service project, a Valentine’s Day stuffed animal toy drive to help comfort children living in war zones.
   The toys collected by AHS students will be sent to Operation International Children, a People to People administered program based in Kansas City that ships children’s school supplies, toys, blankets, shoes and other items to U.S. military bases abroad, Danielle said. American troops then distribute these goodwill packages to needy children living in countries that are torn apart by war and natural disasters.
   ”Through this program, we will be able to reach out to children in places such as Iraq, Panama and Haiti by supporting troops in their efforts to assist them,” Danielle told the Board of Education on Jan. 15 when the chapter was approved.
   And the February toy drive is just the beginning, Danielle said.
   ”We hope that, later this spring, we’ll be able to conduct another drive to collect sports equipment, like Frisbees, soccer balls and jump ropes” for Operation International Children, Danielle said Saturday.
   The mission of People to People, which was founded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956, is to promote peace through understanding between cultures. The organization’s Student Ambassador Program provides teenagers with opportunities to participate in service and humanitarian projects as well as journey abroad on educational trips (taken during summer months and the winter break) to experience new cultures firsthand.
   Danielle and the club’s adviser, teacher Margo Stuart, said that, for now, the AHS club is concentrating on getting organized, planning service projects and raising funds. Trips abroad won’t even be looked at until next year, Ms. Stuart said, noting any trip would require the approval of the Board of Education and must be paid for by the students themselves without the use of any school district funds.
   Danielle said the inspiration to bring People to People to Allentown High School was sparked by her eighth-grade experience at the organization’s World Leadership Forum for elementary school students in Washington, D.C.
   ”I still wanted to be involved in the organization and involve other students in our school so I decided to try to create a chapter here,” Danielle said.
   The AHS People to People chapter has about 25 members, but is eager to recruit more, Danielle said. The main objectives this year include supporting Operation International Children as well as communicating and sharing ideas with student ambassadors in other People to People chapters in the United States and all over the world through Skype and other means.
   The AHS group also wants to organize a World Cultures Day for elementary school students in which People to People members will present crafts, food and the traditional clothing of different countries.
   The students plan to continue meeting outside of school during the summer months to organize more service projects.
   The group intends to raise money for its chapter using the ABC fundraising program, which offers organizations a 70 percent profit with no up-front costs when students sell items such as Auntie Anne’s pretzels, candles and candy, Danielle said.
   Other student leaders of the People to People chapter at Allentown High School are Vice President Jake Koch, Treasurer Samantha Blanco, Secretary Gabriella Morrone and Public Relations Chairwoman Alexis Fischer-Kennedy.
Joanne Degnan contributed to this story.