“We go through everyday with our own stuff. I put on my $25 dress I bought myself and my $30 boots and [I] don’t think of kids who haven’t had their own stuff,” Kelley Philabaun, a senior at FHN, said.
One day while Philabaun was working at JCPenney, she was ringing up a customer who was purchasing a bunch of clothes for $1.97 a piece. Philabaun, being as curious as she is, could not help but to question the woman. The woman told her that she would be donating all the clothes to an orphanage. She told her a story about how she had already donated brand new clothes over the summer to the orphanage and how all the kids were ecstatic.They had never had brand new clothes before or anything to call their own.
At that moment, a switch flipped inside Philabaun. She had been inspired. Philabaun decided that she could also make the same change the woman at her work had. She did her research, got in contact with the Children’s Home Society off Mugee, and was on her way to accomplishing greatness. She received information about sizes, gender, and what the kids who lived there needed.
“I couldn’t do it all on my own,” Philabaun said.
That’s why on November 17th Philabaun decided to get help from her peers around North. All day she carried a blue bucket around taking donations from anyone who wanted to donate and help her buy the clothes. Where she got the motivation? Her heart. Philabaun had already had a rough morning. Being sick, having a headache, and getting in a car accident all in the same day.
“This was the only reason I came to school today. Was to get donations,” said Philabaun.
Philabaun’s goal is to buy all the kids new clothes, and if she raises enough money, to expand her donations to the orphanage in Brentwood by December 3rd.
“The kids out in Brentwood are older, and they have disabilities,” Philabaun said.
Philabaun successfully raised $67.25 on November 17th and will continue collecting donations to anyone who is willing to help out. But, if you don’t see her with her blue bucket around school, you can contact her on Facebook and even join a group she has started to help raising money.
By Amanda Lowery
