Suitcase for Kids

Article excerpts courtesy of Echoes, March 2003
When constantly traveling, it is hard for anyone to keep his or her necessities organized.  It is even harder if that person is homeless and does not have an adequate suitcase to hold his or her belongings.

To solve this problem, Key Club presented an idea that required the help of Mount Carmel's 46 clubs and each of the eighth grade homerooms.  They were asked to paint cheerful decorations or cartoons on a suitcase and deliver it to Key Club.  Key Club members would then fill the suitcases with hygiene kits for the carrier to use.


 
With paint-filled styrofoam cups and paintbrushes in hand, two questions would come to mind:  Where's the gesso?  Where are the suitcases?

The answer to one of these questions was in room 300.  The room was filled with stacks of suitcases in all shapes and sizes.  Some were new and sparkling; others were fairly old and discolored.  Nevertheless, each club and eighth grade homeroom would find a way to make each of these suitcases colorful and beautiful.
"Trying to make the suitcase as nice as it looks in my head was the hardest task," commented one student who spent several Fridays after school painting the Science Club's suitcase.

During the months of January and February, the masterpieces in progress were lined in the Fine Arts Building hallway.  By the end of March, the stage in room 300 was no longer stacked with typical suitcases; instead, beautiful and cheerful cartoons and colors enveloped each suitcase.

School may be closed but the MCA web site isn't!  Weekly updates will be posted throughout the summer, highlighting events which didn't make it to the web during the school year.

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