Newspaper Page Text
Hometown
Heroes
Caroling
for a Cause
The voices of young and old singing
Christmas carols break the silence on a cold December
evening in St. Paul, Minn. Homeowners pull back their
drapes at the first sound of the familiar voices of carolers
who are braving the wintry weather to bring Christmas
cheer and help those less fortunate.
The 100 carolers are part of Project Starfish, a group
whose mission is to raise money for and awareness of
homeless families through the songs of Christmas.
It all began in 1998 when Pam Jandl, a child and fam
ily development specialist at Head Start—a government
program for families in poverty —overheard a conversa
tion. A woman with a special needs child and an abusive
husband came into the Head Start office asking for help
so she and her child could go to a local shelter.
“I hear lots of sad stories, but I just couldn’t put this
woman out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried,"
recalls Jandl, 54, who phoned her then co-worker
Mary Vanderwert. ‘‘l said if we could just get some
money together this mother could find an apartment
and she’d be safe.”
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Carolers sing during
the December fund
raiser in St. Paul, Minn.
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by SUSAN
PALMQUIST
Pam Jandl, Mary Vanderwert and Terry Costalonga gather with youngsters as they prepare to spread Christmas cheer.
Although neither woman was in a financial situa
tion to help, they were determined to do something.
The Sunday after Thanksgiving they rounded up
friends and acquaintances to discuss ways to help.
Many ideas were thrown around, but it was a young
ster who finally suggested going door to door, singing
carols and asking for donations.
Jandl says she’s still amazed how quickly everything
fell into place. They picked a day, time, a neighborhood
and then came up with a name for
their organization—Project Starfish.
"One of my favorite children’s sto
ries is about the boy who throws star
fish back into the ocean one at a time
to save them," says Vanderwert, 56.
“Project Starfish seemed appropriate
because our goal was to try and help
one person at a time.”
Two weeks after the meeting, 50
people went caroling and collected
S2,(HX) in donations. The mother.
however, had returned to her husband. That’s when
Jandls church, St. Timothy Lutheran, suggested
i another family in need.
| Tixlay, Project Starfish has about 100 carolers,
I who range in age from 4 to 70. Each year,
■ they visit the same 500-home neighborhood
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Donations help families in need.
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and use only bells for their musical accompaniment.
Around Thanksgiving they send out fliers and donation
envelopes that are rolled together and tied with ribbon to
distinguish them from junk mail. Very' few homeowners
opt not to answer the door, and Jandl says most now
consider them a regular holiday fixture.
“Raising money for the homeless is a wonderful mis
sion," says Thomas Kromroy, a homeowner in the Crocus
Hill neighborhood. “And it’s enjoyable for us to hear
them sing, too.”
All the donations are used solely
to help poor families pay their rent.
Since its inception, Project Starfish
lias raised $125,000 and aided 85
families.
“I’m grateful and appreciative that
people like Pam, Mary and Project
Starfish care,” says recipient Lena
Bradley, who is completing her col
lege degree and hopes to work as a
readier. “As I move forward in my
career, I’ll be able to look back at the time I needed help
and to being in a position to someday help the next fam
ily in need.”
Vanderwert says the caroling group would like to get
more children involved with Project Starfish because its a
great way to teach them that they can make a difference
in their own community.
“I think Project Starfish also sends a message to every
one that people really do care about one another,” Jandl
says. “And I believe the donations we receive are really
pennies from heaven.”^-
Susan Palmquist is writer in Eden Prairie, Minn.
To learn more, write to Project Starfish,
c/o St. Timothy Lutheran Church, 1601
Thomas Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104.
Page 18
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Photos by Brad Stauffer