Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook

Section Three

Helping Neighbors in a Crisis

by Silja Kallenbach, based on the writing of Maggie Moreno

When Maggie Moreno’s ESOL class in Baytown, Texas read in a newspaper about a family who had lost almost all their belongings when their house burned down, they wanted to help. Their hearts went out for the Granderson family with four children ages 12 to 21 and a five-year-old grandson. They did not know the family, but they knew this kind of hardship could happen to anyone.

Finding Information
Maggie, the teacher, offered to call the Granderson family to find out what they needed the most. Mrs. Granderson was surprised by these immigrant adults’ interest in her family’s plight. She said that they could really use a table and chairs. The students felt that they needed to find out how much a table and four chairs would cost. In class, they practiced different ways of asking for this information and explaining their project. They looked up names and phone numbers of different furniture stores in the yellow pages phone book. Eight students volunteered to call a furniture store. They reported back to class the furniture prices and other information they had learned.

Planning Action
The class decided that they wanted to raise money to buy a table and four chairs to help the Granderson family. One student suggested a food sale and another a raffle. A few days later, Socorro, a student, surprised the class with a crochet tablecloth she had made and wanted to donate for the raffle. Socorro’s tablecloth and a food basket became the prizes for the raffle. The students decided that each raffle ticket would be $1 and there would be 150 numbers. Since some students could not participate in the raffle because of their religion, the class decided to hold a cake sale as well. The next step was to plan all the necessary tasks and who would do them. The tasks included selling tickets, cutting and serving cake, serving coffee, being a cashier and cleaning up. It was clear that everyone should help sell tickets. That meant they needed to talk to other classes about the project. They needed to decide what to say and practice it. They divided the class into six teams that went to speak to the other classes at the learning center.

Taking Action
Talking to the other classes was a good opportunity to practice English, but it made the students nervous. What if the other students couldn’t understand them? What if they forgot what to say? Hugo, for example, paced up and down the hallway practicing his presentation. The students’ courage paid off. They made $140 in half an hour selling raffle tickets and another $150 from the food sale! This made for a truly engaging lesson on counting in English. Counting the money led to a lesson on making bank deposits and withdrawals.

Unexpectedly, a friend of a student donated a table and chairs. Four students took responsibility for picking them up. This gave rise to a lesson on map reading and writing directions in English. Withthe money they had raised the students bought a sofa. They then invited Mrs. Granderson to visit their class.

When Mrs. Granderson arrived and saw what the students had done for her family she was speechless. She had no idea that the students were going to give her all this furniture. She thought that she was just coming to meet them. She was very touched. She told the students that now she too can go back to school because she has a place to do her homework. The students were delighted with what she said, and that they could understand her English. Everyone was moved by the meeting.

Mrs. Granderson then invited everyone to come with her to see her apartment. The students and Maggie piled into cars to go visit the Grandersons, and two students with trucks brought the furniture. When they arrived at the apartment they saw how the family truly did not have any furniture, and what a difference the furniture made. It was very real how by working together they had improved this family’s life. They took pictures to commemorate the event. Everyone felt proud and excited.

Reflecting on the Action
Back in class, students talked about what they had accomplished and still needed to do. The student reactions about the public speaking to other classes ranged from “very proud” to “less nervous because I am more confident now” to “disappointed because I couldn’t say easily what I wanted to say.”

An important remaining task was to thank everyone who had helped. The class decided that the same teams should go to each class they had visited before and thank them for their generosity and tell them what was accomplished. They also wrote thank you letters to everyone who donated to the project. That was yet another valuable English lesson.

Finally, they recorded how all class members had contributed to the project. This showed that it had truly been a group effort. It was an unforgettable English class. There was no question that helping others can be a good and meaningful way to learn English.

Note: Mrs. Granderson has since returned to school and is enrolled in ABE classes. Silja Kallenbach is the Coordinator of the New England Literacy Resource Center in Boston, MA. Maggie Moreno teaches at Harris County Adult Education in Baytown, TX.

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