At Lower School: Community Gathers, Works For Common Cause

The Hawken community recently teamed with Mentor fifth grader Ashley Imbrogno and her mother Karen to make blankets and warm some hearts around Greater Cleveland. Ashley began her efforts and founded Warming the Hearts after her own bout with a life-threatening illness and realizing that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of area children who could use a bit of joy in the midst of difficult circumstances. \"I wanted to make them a blanket to keep them warm, when their parent`s arms weren`t there to wrap around them,\" she said. Hawken got wind of Ashley`s efforts from Chrissy Horsburgh, parent of Pat `10, Mary Margaret `14 and Liz `15, who had already connected and started helping the Imbrognos, and saw it as the perfect opportunity to make a difference. \"Warming the Hearts is a small way to make a meaningful impact on the lives of children in our own Cleveland community. We also saw it as a way to bring our own Hawken community grades Preschool - 12 together in a very special way,\" said Yolanda Polk, Hawken`s Assistant Director of Community Partnerships and Service Learning. Hawken fifth-graders donated $500 from the Geller Fund to buy supplies and students, parents, faculty and staff made the simple tie-blankets, which were delivered to children in area hospitals. The event was just one of a number of service learning opportunities in which Lower, Middle and Upper School Hawken students are currently engaged to become aware of the power of service, and its effect on the lives of others.