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Red Nose Day brings smiles, needed funds

Raising funds for kids while generating smiles?

That’s what Red Nose Day is all about and if the rough estimate is any indication, the Back Pack Program is looking at upwards of $500 to $600 raised on Thursday throughout the county’s elementary schools and central office.

Warren County School District Superintendent Dr. William Clark said the event is in its second year helping to support the program and that “each year it’s gotten a little bigger.”

Clark said he was approached by Pastor Rick Nelson of Youngsville’s Evangelical and First United Methodist churches about incorporating Red Nose Day with the Back Pack Program.

“He jumped on board with the program right away,” said Clark.

Nelson said the official noses are available at Walgreen’s around the country. Those proceeds go to Comic Relief, but since there are no Walgreen’s in the area, Nelson said last year the proceeds were split between Comic Relief and the Back Pack Program. This year, the noses that will likely be split in cost between Nelson’s two churches, all benefit the Back Pack Program.

“About 50 percent of our student population is on free/reduced lunch,” said Warren Area Elementary Center counselor Matt Menard.

Clark said that the schools facilitate the drive internally because “they know their students and staff.”

Menard said he received feedback from other adults in the building.

“I had several tell me that we should not ask for money from students that receive a food bag. They are poor, they are needy and they just can’t afford the $1 for the red nose,” said Menard. “It was not malicious, it was not even unkind. It was simply a different perspective.

“However, from my perspective, by excluding students that benefit from the Back Pack Program we are now ‘labeling’ and stigmatizing and it is unacceptable,” he said.

All students were invited to participate and WAEC alone sold nearly 300 noses and raised about $500.

But that wasn’t all.

“Families had an opportunity to spend more than $1 on a red nose to donate to the cause and many of them did,” said Menard. “We also had many families that receive a food bag donation. In fact, one of the largest donations was from a family that receives a food bag.”

“That’s a warm fuzzy,” said Clark. “These families want to help themselves.”

“That’s the neat thing,” Nelson said. “I don’t know who gets the food bags, but I know that we’ve had families who receive them help pack them.”

“It is in human nature difficult to ask or receive help,” Menard said. “We want to fit in, we don’t want to be labeled and we don’t want to be different. We don’t want to be stigmatized. However, we as a species must be aware that when others do not ask for help it may be very difficult to simply ask. We need to be ready and willing to provide help when it’s asked for an without bias.”

“The kids are helping support something that helps themselves and their friends,” Nelson said. “If we could do that, it was a no-brainer. It just makes sense.”

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