The project came out as inspiration from one of Brigham Young University’s Spanish Professors, who suggested that the class do a service project together this Christmas season. Several students from different sections of the class came together Saturday at 11:00 am. They took supplies donated by students, faculty, and professors from other nearby universities and were able to assemble around 50 kits.

These kits include anything from notebooks and pens, toothpaste and soap, to T-shirts. They will be of great use to the youth with whom we will be working this summer.

Color my World was so grateful that people in the community rallied together to support our cause. This professor’s example is a reminder to us all that it doesn’t take much to make a difference. People will support causes they can believe in. We invite each of you reading this to find a way that you too can serve this Christmas season! Remember, it doesn’t take much to make a difference!

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Brotherly love in abundance was extended by 13 local residents that visited Central America as a part of a 29-person group that recently undertook a goodwill tour to rural Nicaragua. Twelve were from Bedford. One was from Amherst.

The tour, from Aug. 5-12, was presented by Color My World, a Bedford nonprofit with the mission of “leading a global effort to relieve human suffering by providing emergency response relief items and humanitarian services to those in need.” The CMW foundation was formed in 2000 by the Hughes family, of Bedford. It’s aim is to help young people experience service related activities.

The locals who went on the Nicaragua trip included Ella Garvey, 17, of Amherst, and Bedford residents McKenzie Willis, 15, Mattie Soghikian, 17, Lauren Grocott, 15, Maddie Grocott, 17, Griffin Lyons, 15, Will Toon, 17, and members of the Hughes family – Chase, 16, Elizabeth, 9, Noah, 13, and Hillary, 19, participants whose mom, Angela Hughes, and dad, Brian Hughes, led the group.

Those who signed up with Color My World through ColorMyWorldKids.org, visited places in Nicaragua where poverty is the norm. They accomplished a lot, including the removal of 32 bags of fish carcasses, plastic trash, rain-soaked scrap, rotten wood and other detritus from a town beach.

They tended a community garden. They went to the Los Zorros elementary school and served free lunches; meals prepared in advance and sponsored by Color My World. The school had no cooking facility, so the volunteers built a concrete-block kitchen. Then, they painted the building blue and white, the colors of the Nicaraguan flag.

There followed a giveaway of 50 donated solar cookers to local families. The volunteers, sustained on fish, rice, beans, chicken and fruit, also led workshops on how to use solar cooking to make healthy meals. Inhaled smoke from cook fires is of no concern when cooking with the pure heat from the tropical sun.

A stop at Casa Hogar orphanage, home to more than 20 children, led to a festive sing-a-long. Later, an emotional visit to the garbage dump at Chinandega jolted the volunteers. The visitors from New Hampshire observed people of all ages, elders to babies, living in and around the dump. In 1988, families were relocated there after Hurricane Mitch ravaged Central America. Two million homes were destroyed. Reports of 11,000 deaths – 9,000 of them in Nicaragua – were broadcast. The volunteers fed the people living at the dump. They played with children whose toys too often are filthy discards scavenged from the trash.

Chase Hughes, 16, a sophomore at Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, said the deprivations are not met with anger but with gratitude for life. He said he was proud of the assistance the group provided. An additional conservation project entailed the release of newly hatched baby turtles into the sea. Every kid around watched, delighted, as the tiny turtles loped toward the churning foam.

“I felt the people were humble,” Chase said. “They were grateful for what they have and not upset about what they don’t have. They were happy for every day.”

Chase, who intends to be a dentist, said some people were ashamed to smile at photo time. Few earn more than $5 a day and funds rarely go toward toothpaste. The volunteers eventually gave away nearly 100 pounds of hygiene kits, each comprised of four toothbrushes, two bars of soap, two combs and two hand towels.

Chase noted that visiting the tropics offers many challenges. Mosquitoes are relentless. Bats fly everywhere. He said that, daily, hundreds of crabs the size of his hand hunted morsels on the beach. Seeing the crabs was “cool,” Chase admitted. A sand dollar washed ashore is one of his cherished souvenirs.

“The ocean was very warm like bath water but everyone went into the ocean to cool off,” Chase said. “That was a big thing – to go to the ocean. The trip was a life-changing experience with all the service you do and the joy you find.”

Angela Hughes, Chase’s mother, said that a CMW group is returning to Nicaragua, and also to Guatemala, in 2014. In the past 10 years, Color My World has brought solace to the victims of many U.S. disasters, including Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy. It has sent relief kits to Chile, Haiti and Indonesia after earthquakes there. Hygiene kits by the score went to communities scoured by a tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Two years ago, participants extended their range. They took solar cookers and hygiene kits to Costa Rica.

“The perception that people in Central America are lazy is not the case,” Angela said. “They leave at night to go fishing and if you see them during the day, taking naps on their hammocks, it’s because they’ve been working all night. It’s 24 hours to eat and live.”

She said the group’s immersion into a third world environment where there was no clean water for bathing, only salt-water showers, no technology, no social media and no convenience store less than an hour away was “an eye-opening experience.” The volunteers witnessed people living their lives in shacks. Hammocks were beds. The bathroom? Go in the woods.

“The kids who went on this trip were forced to interact with people,” Angela said. “It’s poverty at the lowest level you can ever reach. The kids were nervous there. They pushed through it. It went from, ‘Can I do this?’ to ‘Can I come back, next time?’ I just saw confidence grow every day.”

For more information, visit www.colormyworldkids.org. The Color My World motto is “Search inward, Look upward, Reach outward.”

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OKLAHOMA TORNADO DISASTER RELIEF

The woman’s Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in conjunction with the Young Woman’s Organization and the boys of Scout troop 650, Wolfeboro, held a working party on June 4 to put together hygiene kits to be delivered to the victims of the recent Oklahoma tornadoes. 55 kits were constructed containing soap, toothbrush tooth paste, combs, and hand towels. All the materials were donated by church members, friends and local businesses. Once assembled the kits were forwarded directly to the afflicted people in Oklahoma.

#hygienekits #disasterrelief #volunteer #humanitarian #youthprograms #colormyworld #tornadorelief #volunteer #mormon

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The 2013 Moore tornado was an EF5 tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma, and adjacent areas on the afternoon of May 20, 2013; with peak winds estimated at 210 mph (340 km/h), killing 24 people (+1 indirect fatality) and injuring 377 others. The tornado was part of a larger weather system that had produced several other tornadoes across the Great Plains over the previous two days (including five that struck Central Oklahoma on May 19). The tornado touched down west of Newcastle at 2:56 p.m. CDT (19:56 UTC), staying on the ground for 39 minutes over a 17-mile (27 km) path, crossing through a heavily populated section of Moore. The tornado was 1.3 miles (2.1 km) wide at its peak. Despite the tornado following a roughly similar track to the even deadlier 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado, which was similar in size and severity, very few homes and neither of the stricken schools had purpose-built storm shelters” –Wikipedia

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]]> 1710 https://colormyworldkids.org/girl-scouts-receive-honors-help-storm-victims/ Thu, 06 Dec 2012 12:18:56 +0000 http://colormyworldkids.org/?p=1781 Read original article here in the Manchester Journal ARLINGTON – St. James Episcopal Church in Arlington hosted the awards ceremony for the Arlington Girl Scout troops on Sept. 16. Claire Grupe and Emma Sheldon were bridged from Daisies to Brownies, and Audrianna Ennis flew up from Brownies to become a Junior Girl Scout. The Juniors...

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]]> Read original article here in the Manchester Journal

ARLINGTON – St. James Episcopal Church in Arlington hosted the awards ceremony for the Arlington Girl Scout troops on Sept. 16.

Claire Grupe and Emma Sheldon were bridged from Daisies to Brownies, and Audrianna Ennis flew up from Brownies to become a Junior Girl Scout.

The Juniors who were bridged to Cadettes were Angela Caggiano, Anna Freebern, Florrie Hynds, Kierstyn Hess and Alyssa Harrington. They were welcomed by current Cadettes, Sofie Pedemonti, Katheryn Berger and Kaleigh Ward. The girls were presented with badges by troop leaders Janne Pedemonti, Elizabeth Berger, and Amanda Harrington, that they had earned over the past year. A special recognition was also given to parent volunteers; Elizabeth Berger, Kim Baker, Rose Caggiano, Julie Freebern, Stephanie Hynds-Moffett, and Janinie Moscarelllo.

The Arlington Girl Scouts recently organized a collection of hygiene kits for victims of Hurricane Sandy in conjunction with "Color My World" of
The Arlington Girl Scouts recently organized a collection of hygiene kits for victims of Hurricane Sandy in conjunction with “Color My World” of Bedford, N.H. More than 50 kits were collected and shipped to hard hit areas on the East Coast. (Courtesy Photo)
Cynthia Browning, a local state representative, was also recognized for her work with the Girl Scouts growing vegetables in the community garden in Arlington over the summer that were harvested for the food shelf and local schools.

The girls who bridged to Cadettes were each presented with the Bronze Award, the highest award given to a Junior. This distinction required that the girls develop an ambitious leadership project that would impact their community. Florrie Hynds and Angela Caggiano focused their efforts on pollution and recycling.

They did a workshop with Don Knaak of Junkmusic to use bottles caps and other objects to create musical instruments. They also made a wind chime, played games, created refrigerator magnets and stamps using bottle caps.

Florrie and Angela were also able to get the children at Happy Days Daycare in Arlington involved with playing games while learning about recycling. A petition of 75 signatures were collected and sent to the three top bottling companies; Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Nestle, asking them to consider making their caps out of compostable material. The girls were able to raise the awareness of the importance of recycling in their community and were able learn a lot about it themselves.

Alyssa Harrington, Kierstyn Hess and Anna Freebern chose to create a gardening project at the Centers for Living and Rehabilitation (CLR) in Bennington. The girls worked with the local Garden Club gaining knowledge about planting for their project. At CLR, they cleaned and prepared garden beds, planted bushes and herbs. A butterfly and hummingbird garden was created for the enjoyment of the residents.

The girls gave a presentation on nutrition and explained the different parts of a flower. They created garden themed projects and celebrated the end of summer harvest with a garden party complete with a garden themed food, music, games and decorations. They were able to make a connection with the residents of CLR, fostered a relationship with the Garden Club and gained a great amount of knowledge about gardening.

The Arlington Girls Scouts also recently organized a collection of hygiene kits containing basic hygiene items. The girls coordinated their efforts with an organization by the name of Color My World in Bedford, N.H. more than 50 plus kits were collected and shipped to the hard hit areas on the East Coast that were effected by Hurricane Sandy.

The Girl Scouts would like to thank all that donated to this important cause.

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]]> 1781 https://colormyworldkids.org/cintas-delivers-10000-worth-of-towels-for-hurricane-sandy/ Thu, 29 Nov 2012 12:52:35 +0000 http://colormyworldkids.org/?p=1815 Thank you to Cintas who delivered hygiene kits and over $10,000 worth of hospital grade towels for Hurricane Sandy victims. Hillary Hughes personally delivered some of the towels to New Jersey with Brian Hughes. We hand delivered a suburban full to Brooklyn to Operation Sandy that went directly to a hard hit area called the...

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]]> Thank you to Cintas who delivered hygiene kits and over $10,000 worth of hospital grade towels for Hurricane Sandy victims. Hillary Hughes personally delivered some of the towels to New Jersey with Brian Hughes. We hand delivered a suburban full to Brooklyn to Operation Sandy that went directly to a hard hit area called the Rockaways almost the minute it was unloaded.

Most of our kits and supplies were delivered to Toms River, NJ on a huge flat bed with our partners Operation NH.

Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, Cintas Corporation provides highly specialized services to businesses of all types throughout the world.

Cintas operates more than 430 facilities in North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia, including six manufacturing plants and nine distribution centers. The company employs approximately 30,000 people.

Company revenues were $4.32 billion in fiscal year 2013. Net income for the year was $315.4 million, and earnings per diluted share were $2.52.

Cintas was founded by Richard T. Farmer, Chairman Emeritus. Scott Farmer was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2003 and J. Phillip Holloman was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer in 2008. Robert J. Kohlhepp is Chairman of the Board.

 

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]]> 1815 https://colormyworldkids.org/photos-from-hurricane-sandy-project/ Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:23:16 +0000 http://colormyworldkids.org/?p=1707 We dropped over $30,000 in hygiene kits and supplies to victims of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. We teamed up with a volunteer NH group that drove most of it down on an 18 wheeler and then we rented a truck and drove down as much as we could squeeze in. Here are some photos...

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]]> We dropped over $30,000 in hygiene kits and supplies to victims of Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey. We teamed up with a volunteer NH group that drove most of it down on an 18 wheeler and then we rented a truck and drove down as much as we could squeeze in.

Here are some photos of the event that changed the East Coast and humbled a nation, once again.

\

Hurricane Sandy (unofficially known as “Superstorm Sandy”) was the deadliest and most destructive hurricane of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the second-costliest hurricane in United States history. Classified as the eighteenth named storm, tenth hurricane and second major hurricane of the year, Sandy was a Category 3 storm at its peak intensity when it made landfall in Cuba.

While it was a Category 2 storm off the coast of the Northeastern United States, the storm became the largest Atlantic hurricane on record (as measured by diameter, with winds spanning 1,100 miles (1,800 km)).Estimates as of March 2014 assess damage to have been over $68 billion (2013 USD), a total surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina. At least 286 people were killed along the path of the storm in seven countries.

Sandy developed from a tropical wave in the western Caribbean Sea on October 22, quickly strengthened, and was upgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy six hours later. Sandy moved slowly northward toward the Greater Antilles and gradually intensified. On October 24, Sandy became a hurricane, made landfall near Kingston, Jamaica, re-emerged a few hours later into the Caribbean Sea and strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane.

On October 25, Sandy hit Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane, then weakened to a Category 1 hurricane. Early on October 26, Sandy moved through the Bahamas.[6] On October 27, Sandy briefly weakened to a tropical storm and then restrengthened to a Category 1 hurricane. Early on October 29, Sandy curved north-northwest and then moved ashore near Brigantine, New Jersey, just to the northeast of Atlantic City, as a post-tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds.- Wikipedia

Hurricane Sandy pummels the Jersey shoreline.

Noah Hughes visits Manhattan to access the damage and views the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.

Trash fills the street of NYC as power is out over half of Manhattan.

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]]> 1707 https://colormyworldkids.org/becca-burtenshaw-and-friends-put-together-hygiene-kits/ Mon, 12 Nov 2012 13:19:54 +0000 http://colormyworldkids.org/?p=1838 Becca Burtenshaw and company has put together hygiene kits for Hurricane Sandy in Arizona. Thank You for your time and donations!

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]]> Becca Burtenshaw and company has put together hygiene kits for Hurricane Sandy in Arizona.

Thank You for your time and donations!

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]]> 1838 https://colormyworldkids.org/hwy-40-fitness-roosevelt-ut-and-pelican-station-inc-in-utah-just-sent-us-100-hygiene-kits/ Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:36:11 +0000 http://colormyworldkids.org/?p=1796 This is our last week of the Hygiene Kit drive (Although we will take them after as well:) All of our kits are headed straight to Staten Island and they are still badly needed! Shae Morgan Zufelt and her colleagues at HWY 40 fitness Roosevelt UT and Pelican Station Inc. in Utah just sent us...

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]]> This is our last week of the Hygiene Kit drive (Although we will take them after as well:) All of our kits are headed straight to Staten Island and they are still badly needed! Shae Morgan Zufelt and her colleagues at HWY 40 fitness Roosevelt UT and Pelican Station Inc. in Utah just sent us 100 kits! Thank you so much!!

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