There’s a good chance you will see collection boxes around the parish through Dec. 6.
Hahnville High School students who are in this year’s Chick-fil-A Leader Academy cohort are collecting new and unused items, including toys for all ages, card games, books, coloring books, headphones, hygiene products, socks, blankets, hats, school supplies, gift cards and monetary donations for One Heart NOLA, a non-profit organization providing tools and support for foster children in the Greater New Orleans area.
Parish residents can donate items at Habaneros, Luling Elementary, Lakewood Elementary, Hahnville High, the Satellite Center, Crawfish and Chill, Majoria’s Supermarket and other locations, according to Krystn Charlie, the teacher facilitator for Chick-fil-A Leader Academy at Hahnville High School.
Charlie said the Do Good December project is one of three community service projects students complete as part of the Chick-fil-A Leader Academy, a one year program focused on leadership and service. The other projects include a book give-away and a crawfish cookoff.
“Do Good December is my favorite project because it’s the one that the kids truly get to accept ownership of,” Charlie said. “We do something different every year and it’s really dependent on the group [of students]. They are out there doing the grunt work.”
Leader Academy students decided on this year’s gift bag project after hearing the struggles of foster kids from Teri Hrabovski, the director of One Heart NOLA.
“I think what really tugged at their heart strings is the stigma that foster kids get,” Charlie said. “These kids want to fit in and not have that foster child title attached to everything.”
Charlie said One Heart NOLA often helps kids who are aging out of foster care the most because they need resources to help with their next steps. Hrabovski told students the story of one foster child who needed financial help for rent and furniture at a new apartment.
“Those types of stories really got to the kids,” Charlie said. “It was something they never thought about. That was when they thought about adding a monetary donation to it too.” 
Charlie said the students plan to donate nearly $500 to One Heart NOLA. The group received a $500 check from Kenner Chick-fil-A during Destrehan and Hahnville’s rivalry week on Nov. 1.
Charlie said she is looking forward to how the students feel when the project is finished, and they get to reap the benefits of their hard work.
“I just love to see how excited they are,” she said. “It makes me feel good too.”
Charlie, a Spanish teacher at Hahnville, has been a facilitator of the Leader Academy for three years. In addition to the three service projects, students also complete monthly labs where they learn about various aspects of service and leadership. Students must be accepted into the program; there are 21 students in this year’s cohort.
Charlie added her own spin to the program: she invites guest speakers from the community to talk to students about their service.
“It’s really just about students learning how to make an impact in their community where they are, with the resources they have, as high school kids,” Charlie said. “It’s a great program. I believe in it.”
