JANUARY 2016 Vol. 5, Issue 44
FREE CONCERT
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BIZ OF MONTH
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Nebo district taking care of students in need By Jeff Dabbs
There are currently 1,400 homeless children within Nebo School District. Fortunately, Nebo employees like Monica Hullinger are there to help. Hullinger is a social worker in the district’s Student Services department where she helps provide children in need with clothing and food. But she does much more than that: she also helps provide assistance to children who are struggling with social problems or even family emergencies. Many children have both parents working, sometimes at three jobs. Hullinger said they have to “rob Peter to pay Paul.” They simply aren’t earning enough money to make ends meet. With the recent hard economic times, some families haven’t recovered yet. There are also many migrant families in the area with children. Some of the families will live in campgrounds during the summer months to save money. Then when winter hits, they move indoors. Sometimes multiple families will live in one residence. The children of these families have many issues that need to be addressed. Some students relocate from a warm climates during winter and don’t have any cold-weather clothing. Many of the students have basic clothing needs such as coats and socks. The community assists in meeting these needs. For example, The Springville High School FFA raised a pig which it later donated to a food bank to aid needy families. Landmark High School students help stock and maintain the Nebo School District food bank. Many need-
Nebo School District Social Worker Monica Hullinger helps the district’s hundreds of children in need, providing them with food and other resources.
ed clothing items like prom dresses and suits are donated for students who otherwise would not be able to afford dress clothes. Basics like toilet paper, soap and shampoo are donated by the community. Food donations come from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Kiwanis Sub-for-Santa program and the community. Backpacks with food are given out daily to the students who need food at home. Sometimes the need is a bit different.
Hullinger said a male high school student in the district had his mother pass away two years ago. Then his father passed away recently. The student had no idea how to arrange a funeral for his dad. Hullinger networked with her com-
munity contacts and was able to secure the burial plot next to the boy’s mother. arrange for a coffin and help the student lay his father to rest for only $200 dollars. This was a community effort made possible by many. In addition to physical needs, students sometimes need a way to learn coping skills and how to bounce back and overcome problems. Hullinger said she would like to bottle resiliency and hand it out to each student. “Bad things happen, students have sad times and can feel left out of society. We need to teach them to handle failure. Children need to feel bumps in the road so they can pick themselves up. Students need to learn to overcome and handle life’s problems. Failures help make them stronger youth,” she said. Hullinger said one student was so driven to succeed that she was upset by getting 97 percent on a test. She always got 100 percent on every test. Though 97 percent was still an A, she felt like a failure. Some students can be so driven to succeed, that any failure, even a mild one, can cause major stress in their lives. Students sometimes act out inappropriately. Stress at school can lead to suicide, especially during the holiday season. Some students wish to graduate early and already work full time. Some children have social issues that need to be addressed. See DISTRICT on page A2
Janis Neilsen recognized for 200 hours of service By Melissa Prins Local resident Janis Neilsen was honored on Dec. 16 for completing more than 200 hours of volunteer service at Tabitha’s Way in Spanish Fork. Neilsen was presented with a plaque and a bouquet of a dozen roses. She has been serving in the local food pantry helping to distribute food and supplies to families in need. “Janis exemplifies what it means to love thy neighbor. She comes every week for several hours on our busiest day, helping to check and stock food and then serve the food to families. It’s hard work at times, but Janis always serves with a big heart and smiling face,” said Wendy Osborne, director of Tabitha’s Way. “We are blessed to have her as a part of our food pantry.” Local organizations such as Tabitha’s Way rely on the help of volunteers to feed the thousands of individuals served monthly. Along with food, the organization also provides supplies for infants and seniors such as diapers and hygiene kits. Persons interested in volunteering
Richard Beard, CEO of Bank of American Fork, presents nearly 20,000 stuffed animals to care centers for Utah’s at-risk children.
Project Teddy Bear brings in over 18,000 stuffed animals By Cory Maloy
Janis Neilsen
can sign up at www.tabithasway.org and click on “Volunteering.”
Many young kids will find one small piece of joy this Christmas with a teddy bear given to them at care centers throughout Utah serving at-risk children. The teddy bears are donated to the care centers from branches of Bank of Ameri-
can Fork and Lewiston State Bank as part of Project Teddy Bear. “Sometimes children come in with nothing but the clothes on their back,” said Alex Essig, Kids Place assistant and adoption respite supervisor for The Family Place. “These teddy bears are a great See TEDDY BEARS on page A3