Student council members at Penn Christian Academy helped organize the Share the Love Campaign that donated 1,600 items to Project Hope, a Zelienople group that provides tote bags full of supplies to parents whose children are in the hospital. In front, the students are, from left, Haley Garcia, Danny Gavaghan, Joshua Burlingham and Faith Bajerma. In back, from left, are Caleb Yauger, Cyan Vollmer, Melyn Dickson, Lilli Shoettker, Brendyn Baptiste, Ian Gumto and Joel Barlkey.

PENN TWP — The caring nature of a local boy and the hard work of his student council resulted in a whopping donation for a local charity.

Penn Christian Academy recently collected and donated 1,600 items to Project Hope, a Zelienople group that provides tote bags full of supplies to parents whose children are patients at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

The school’s initial goal was 300 items, which can include soap, shampoo, deodorant, snacks and other items that would allow parents to remain with their children instead of returning home to retrieve personal items.

Danny Gavaghan, a fourth-grade student at Penn Christian Academy and a Cranberry Township resident, approached his teacher, Susan Doan, with the idea to help Project Hope after seeing his sister’s Girl Scout troop collect items for the charity.

“I just thought I would like to help kids in the hospital who had to stay overnight or for months,” Danny said. “Their parents might not want to leave them alone.”

Once Doan picked up the ball, she tossed it to the school’s student council as an idea for a service project. The 10-student governing body of the organization grabbed it and ran.

“Our student council always has an ongoing service project, and this sounded like a great project for Valentine’s Day,” Doan said. “We called it the ‘Share the Love Campaign.’”

All classrooms in the school at 199 Airport Road, which educates students in kindergarten through sixth grade, were alerted about the collection, and signs and notices reminding students and teachers to bring in items were posted around the school.

Soon, donations began pouring in.

“We asked for personal care items, books, snacks, anything a family would need if they were spending the night at the hospital on short notice,” Doan said.

One teacher brought in a garbage bag crammed with new stuffed animals, so the children could receive a gift from the tote as well.

Once the project ended, teachers arranged all the items on the school’s stage so students could see the results of their efforts during their Friday chapel time there.

Doan said the students were excited to donate the mountain of items to a cause they could understand.

“One parent who had received a tote bag from Project Hope in the past had tears in her eyes,” Doan recalled. “Another parent said ‘Now I know why I send my child here.’”

Doan said the items were jammed into her large SUV and taken to Project Hope, where supplies were low.

“They were amazed and very thankful,” Doan said.

The soft-spoken educator said receiving more than five times the number of items expected in Project Share the Love says a lot about Penn Christian Academy.

“It says our families care about others and try to teach their kids good values.”

Project Hope was founded by Kim Sebring of Zelienople after the loss of her son, Tyler, in 2003. More information about Project Hope is available at www.sparkinghope.org.