A group of Iola High students had their eyes opened to a whole different world during their recent spring break. “I HAVEN’T done anything to make the difference I have been wanting to make,” Friederich said of her motivation to go on the trip.
Chloe Friederich, Brooke Maley, Darcie Collins, Jordan Garcia and Cory Richey met with The Register to describe their week-long road trip of charity and service that spanned 10 states in just nine days.
“We decided we wanted to do something else for spring break than just waste our own money,” Garcia said. In fact, they did the opposite.
Garcia and Collins came up with the idea for the road trip to give, rather than take.
They raised about $2,800 in local donations and support for the trip from bake sales, raffles and other events.
But, before even leaving town, first on their list was the Allen County Animal Rescue Facility, where they gave $100 along with dog food for the animal shelter.
Then, with a 12-seat van donated by Sigg Automotive, they hit the road. First stop, Missouri — where the students stopped by the side of the road to donate a full tank of gas to a woman who was on her way to Oklahoma City and had run out of fuel. They sent the stranded motorist on her way.
Then the van went to Jonesboro, Ark., to bus tables at CiCi’s Pizza. They also donated a meal to a family dining at the restaurant.
“It went really well,” Garcia said.
Richey said the family waited at the cash register, asking who had paid for their meal — they assumed it was the out-of-town high school students busing tables.
“They met us outside to thank us,” Richey said. “The kids were really excited to get a pop.”
The next stop on the road was Memphis, Tenn., where the students worked at a soup kitchen organized by St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
“We got to hear all that they have been through,” Collins said. “And hear their stories.”
Friederich said many of the homeless people were veterans who were down on their luck, and who had not been supported by the government they had put their lives on the line to protect.
“It was really sad to see,” Friederich said.
The group took time to see Memphis, visiting the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. For Maley, the trip was a bit more special — she had never been out of Kansas, and now she was seeing 10 states in just over one week.
On the second day in Memphis, the group volunteered at the Memphis Zoo, helping visitors find their way and passing out pamphlets and information.
From Memphis, they traveled to Hazlehurst, Miss., where they donated books and read to students at Sunshine Preschool. They also spent time with the elderly at Pinecrest Retirement Home.
The next stop, in Hattisburg, Miss., seemed to have a profound effect on many of the students.
“That was my favorite part,” Collins said.
A woman’s house had been badly damaged during a tornado, and while she was gone her home had been looted of nearly all of its belongings. She and her three children were left without many necessities for everyday life.
The students stopped to assist Habitat for Humanity in helping to renovate the home for the woman, so she could move back in.
“I learned to never take anything for granted,” Maley said of the experience.
The next stop was the team’s “off day” of the trip. They stopped in Orange Beach, Ala. to read at a local preschool. The next day, they went over to Pensacola, Fla., to clean trash off of one of the beaches.
On their way back through Alabama, the group stopped to donate candy to a group of firefighters, they then stopped in Monroe, La., to spend time with residents at the Marygoss Nursing Home.
The girls helped to paint many of the women’s nails in the home, along with the help of Christy Houk, the owner of All About U Salon in Iola — she was one of the supervisors on the trip. It was there that they met Izola Jordan, a 106-year-old tenant who made an impression on the group.
“She was kickin’ it like us,” Garcia said laughing.
On their way back toward Kansas, the group stopped in Dallas to help at a home for those afflicted with AIDS — they played bingo and made supper for the residents.
Their final act of kindness was buying a tank of gas for a woman at a gas station in Okmulgee, Okla., before driving back to Iola.
When asked what she learned from her experiences, she said, “it’s the little things that matter.”
The group reflected on the different stops they had made — nursing homes, a homeless shelter, schools, destroyed homes — and it was evident that each and every stop had made an impression on them as they traded stories back and forth. .
In total, 14 people went on the trip, including siblings and supervisors. The students said they wanted to “give a shout-out” to Billy Collins. Without her, they said they never would have had the motivation to go on the trip.
“Without her, we wouldn’t have had the chance to go,” Richey said.
“She had to keep us positive,” Maley chimed in.
The students said they had some negative feedback on their trip, many people thought they would not be able to do it. But, overall they said the community was “overwhelmingly supportive.”
“Many people didn’t understand why we were doing something like this,” Garcia said as his fellow spring-breakers reflected on their week-long endeavor.
“Having a positive attitude may be more helpful than you think,” he said.
IHS volunteers changed by spring break trip
