Valentine’s Day brought dozens of parents, staff and 102 students at Fernway Elementary School in Orland Park together for a surprise donation of scooters and cash set up by a group called Buddy’s Helpers.
Students from Chicago area high schools were invited to donate some pocket change over the past several months to support the surprise, which included a $1 bill and a cape on top of the new wheels for each of the elementary students. Parents and staff confirmed everyone was fully surprised by the event.
“Nobody knew except myself and obviously my custodian because he needed to kind of help me set up,” said Principal Sandy Hutchinson. “Even when I sent something out to parents I said ‘I’m sorry, this is a surprise so I can’t tell you more but I can tell you this is going to be fun.’”
Parent Angela Lopez, whose son Rigoberto was doing doughnuts around her as she spoke, said she was completely surprised by the gifts.
“We’re all super surprised. And it’s so exciting for him and the school even,” Lopez said. “His teachers said they didn’t even know about it … It’s just really awesome.”
Rigoberto kept it brief in an effort to reduce time talking and optimize time for play.
“Super cool,” he said without elaborating.
The gym was filled with children trying out the scooters for the first time, their tiny blue capes flapping behind them with each push.
Buddy’s Helpers is a nonprofit that unites Chicago-area high school student athletes, teacher and coaches in an annual community service campaign. High school student athletes from area schools Hillcrest and George Washington stood outside of the Fernway gym to facilitate the gift transfer.
Hutchinson said while the morning is just about a fun surprise for the kids, later in the day teachers would make sure the students go home with their gifts and a lifelong lesson.
“We’ve been talking about random acts of kindness this week,’” she said, noting this year Valentine’s Day falls in the middle of Random Act of Kindness Week. “The teachers did speak with the kids about what that meant and ‘What could you do to do something like that?’ So they carried that into the classroom.”
Regardless what lessons stick, the surprise was meaningful to the families, especially Ala Abdelrahim, who wasn’t even supposed to be at school this morning, to witness with his two kids.
“I actually didn’t even know about this,” Abdelrahim said. “I happened to be around for today—usually I start work early.
“Last minute plans for him,” his wife Sara Rashid said with a laugh.
With scooters in hand, Rashid waved goodbye to her child as he sluggishly walked in a single file line from the gym back to class.
hsanders@chicagotribune.com
