Submitted Photo Back row from left: Ms. Jennifer Restivo, Malorie Schmidt fifth grade, Yanieliz Lozado fifth grade, Promise Bruce, Buffalo City Mission. Front row: Ben Layton fifth grade, Samuel Bowers fourth grade, Rylee Weiskerger third grade, Jason Mills third grade, Autumn Rice fourth grade, and Cassidy Westbrook fifth grade.

Special to the OBSERVER

During this time of holiday preparation, and all the hustle and bustle of the season, a group of young students from Silver Creek Elementary have been spirited and motivated to give to others in an attempt to “Make a Difference” in the lives of those in need this season.

The students and Ms. Jennifer Restivo, Silver Creek Elementary School grades 3-5 Social Studies teacher, along with Mrs. Marianne Bowers, mother of one of the students and volunteer to the school program, recently traveled into The Buffalo City Mission to deliver a heartfelt project they have been working on. During the visit it was abundantly clear, to all, that their mission of love and support was warmly received. Everyone learned so much about the need to make a difference in the lives of those whom may find themselves struggling to find hope, especially during this time of the year.

For the past 12 weeks a small, yet determined group of third, fourth, and fifth grade students have been diligently meeting before school, four days a week, to prep the supplies needed to make plastic mats for the homeless at The Buffalo City Mission.

Silver Creek Elementary School recently began a program called Knight U, which is a morning program of varied designed courses for students in grades 3-5 to pick from. They commit to attend mornings before school to enhance their overall educational opportunity. This course was entitled “Making a Difference”, and focused on giving back to the community through a project-based activity. Students collected an abundance of store plastic bags, they flattened, folded, cut, and tied these bags creating what we referred to as “plarn,” or plastic yarn. The plastic yarn was then used to crochet 3′ wide by 6′ long mats that would be given to those finding themselves homeless.

As the students were novices in crocheting, the school reached out to the local community and had an overwhelming response from ladies willing to contribute their time and talent at crocheting. Students were able to complete 7 mats, each mat using approximately 600 bags each. In addition, students gathered supplies such as: hats, socks, gloves, coats, and pants to also donate.

The project culminated this week with a field trip into The Buffalo City Mission to personally deliver the completed mats and collected items. Students were given a grand tour of the Corner Stone Manor Facility. This is the women and children’s division of The Buffalo City Mission.

Students, Mrs. Bowers, and Ms. Restivo were all impressed with the facility and have already begun to think of future project-based ideas to focus on in the spring to support the children of The Buffalo City Mission.