PENDLETON — Sixth-graders at East Elementary School recently turned a class reading assignment into a humanitarian project.

As part of 2019 Global Read Aloud (GRA), teachers across the world read aloud to students a selected book from a list provided by GRA creator Pernille Ripp.

The event, which started in 2009, runs for six weeks and looks to promote connections through shared reading. East students connected with a class in Florida, but they got much more from their experience than anticipated, helping a group of people in need closer to home.

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Twenty-five students in Robin Hart’s sixth-grade class took part in reading “The Bridge Home” by Padma Venkatraman, the GRA recommendation for middle-schoolers.

The book is about two young girls in India, Rukku and Viji, who run away from home because of an abusive father. They live under a bridge and meet and become friends with two other children. The book talks about the hurdles they faced and learning to trust people again.

Hart said her students connected with the book, and it brought on discussion about homelessness. Without any nudging from their teacher, the class decided it wanted to do something to help.

Class members started asking questions about homelessness in Madison County. One student looked up how many homeless people are in Anderson. They started coming up with a plan to raise money and gather necessities that would be helpful to the homeless.

“These guys took it. It was not me. They took it and just went with it,” Hart said. “They did it all, and I think that is spectacular.”

They developed a project they called “Hearts for Homeless.”

Some students were organizers; others were fundraisers. They put their minds together and raised $752.

Students went door-to-door to raise money. Another student was in charge of creating a Facebook page. They were tweeting out about what they were doing in hopes of gathering more funds for their care packages.

“I’ve learned a lot about teamwork and working together to help others for a good cause,” said sixth-grader Jack Johnson, who was part of the fundraising team.

Class member Brycen Hamilton created the Facebook page and was able to raise $250.

“I figured out there are different ways we could raise money for the homeless. You could go door-to-door, and I started a page on Facebook. It helped because a lot of people donated and they were making great comments about our project.

“I liked being able to help the homeless. We didn’t just read a book and move on with it. We got to do something to show we learned something from, and enjoyed, the book.”

Peanut butter, sanitary wipes, toothpaste, tooth brushes, hats, gloves, scarfs, combs, brushes and blankets were all part of the class shopping list. They bought materials to make the blankets themselves.

The class put the gifts in cinch sacks, and Hart was scheduled to take the items to The Christian Center in Anderson this week.

Billie Ellis, who works community assistance for The Christian Center, said the shelter runs primarily on private donations. She said the center is always looking for the type of items gathered by Hart’ class.

“I didn’t realize how much of a donation it would be,” Ellis said. “It’s such a blessing. To me, it’s touching. You hear so much negative about kids now, with bullying …, to see that they realize there are others less fortunate than them.

“This is very huge (for the center) and very heartfelt.”