Makenzie Currie partners with Red Mountain Grace

KIDS WHO SHINE MAKENZIE CURRIE, 10

BY STEPHANIE GIBSON LEPORE

When Vestavia Hills Elementary East student Makenzie Currie was challenged with choosing a Passion Project as part of the gifted program, she quickly decided she wanted to do a service project.

Through her parents’ small group at The Church at Brook Hills, the family partners with Red Mountain Grace (RMG). The nonprofit dedicates its resources to providing “gracious housing” to patients and caregivers during extended medical stays in Birmingham. Occupants are provided with a basket of essentials at check-in. That’s where Makenzie’s story picks up again.

As part of their small group’s partnership, the Curries were paired with other families to help make their stays in town more comfortable. “These are families whose loved ones are sometimes here for [major medical procedures like] lung or heart transplants,” explains Makenzie’s mom, Lindsay Currie. “We’ve been paired with multiple families the past couple of years.”

Lindsay says one family in particular stuck out to Makenzie. In summer 2020, they did a driveby birthday party for a 6-year-old boy who was undergoing a lung transplant. “I liked it because when we did the birthday party for Timmy, he was really happy afterward and seeing his face was so fun,” says Makenzie.

“Makenzie’s interest was already piqued,” says Lindsay. “Then that fall, the gifted program at her school started the Passion Project, and she had to choose something to research and implement.” The class received a list of options and examples, and Makenzie noticed “service projects.”

“That looked fun because someone at school had done a fundraiser recently,” she says. When her gifted teacher, Amy Abbott, asked who she wanted to work with, she chose RMG.

“I had this dream that we could provide baskets of games and other fun things for the kids when they check in,” says Makenzie, who was then in fourth grade.

Makenzie’s dream took many steps to bring to life, including meeting with the principal, creating advertising for her school, and working with the team at RMG to coordinate the project. “They didn’t let her off the hook easily,” says Lindsay. “They made her work!”

Makenzie asked all of the fourth-grade students and their families to participate by donating crayons, coloring books, games, and “welcome to Birmingham” books, such as “Night, Night Birmingham.” “I really wanted to help by giving [the kids] stuff to do,” she says.

Students in the fourth- and fifth-grade gifted classes made cards with Bible verses and encouraging notes to include in the baskets, too. Also on the cards were suggestions for favorite spots like Martin’s Barbecue, and Crumbl. “People were so generous,” says Lindsay. “We got a lot of things and to see it come to fruition was really fun.”

Makenzie collected enough items to fill 20 baskets. “I thought it was really neat because we got to write the notes and then one day our class got to put the baskets together,” says Makenzie. “And then we got to line them up in the hallway and saw them all go on the cart.” RMG Executive Director Austin Hardison came to the school, where Makenzie presented him with the cart of packed baskets for prospective families.

Mom Lindsay notes that Makenzie learned a lot from the project. “Of course there is the heart side, the spiritual side, as well as logistics and planning.” Since then, the Currie family—in addition to Makenzie and Lindsay, there is dad Kendall, Makenzie’s twin Maddie Grace, and younger sister Ashton Kate (8)—has gotten even more involved. The girls hosted a lemonade stand to raise money for the organization, and RMG invited them to their banquet fundraiser, where they all learned more about the ministry and shared stories and a slideshow. “That was really fun,” says Makenzie. “And I loved getting to work with my sisters.”

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE CURRIE FAMILY

Makenzie presented RMG Executive Director Austin Hardison with items collected during her gifted class Passion Project.

Visit redmountaingrace.com for more information.

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