In
early October 2001, Little Pearls was contacted by Charlene Scharf
and Maggie Schlubach of Schlubach and Scharf Special Events. They
wanted to help children in Asheville, North Carolina send messages
of love and support to kids in New York who had suffered personal
loss in the September 11 tragedies. After our first meeting to
discuss the project, a girl and her mother, who had been having
lunch nearby, approached Linda. The girl, Claire, was from
William Randolph Elementary School. She expressed interest
in the messages we had been discussing and she told us she was
part of the school Media Club. She had lost her father suddenly
earlier in the year and understood how children in New York might
be feeling.
On
that day, the project "Child to Child: Heart to Heart"
was born, resulting in a thirty second PSA, a five minute "mini-documentary,"
and a children's letter writing campaign. The idea immediately
ignited with the first people we contacted and drew in abundant
community support. Claire's Media Club, along with a few other
children from the area, stepped forward with poignant messages.
The Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa in Asheville generously funded
the project. A news reporter for WLOS-TV (Asheville) remarked
that in the aftermath of September 11, much had been heard from
adults, but little had been heard from children to
children. The PSA was aired on ABC-7 in New York. Allied Vaughn,
a video duplication company, generously donated 1,000 copies of
both the PSA and the documentary, for distribution to children
in New York via the Board of Education and the American Red Cross
Family Disaster Relief Centers. Many hearts have been touched
by the messages of these wonderful children.
Asheville
students send money, letters, video messages to New York children
From Asheville Citizen-Times
Posted: 10-13-01 01:30
ASHEVILLE
— Days before President Bush issued a call for American kids to
send a dollar to help the children of war-torn Afghanistan, Asheville
residents were already organizing a massive letter-writing campaign
to send comfort to children whose parents died in the Sept. 11
attack on New York City.
Plans
also are underway to send a mini-documentary and a television
public service announcement from the children of Asheville to
their peers in New York, according to Maggie Schlubach of Schlubach
and Scharf Special Events.
A
recent newspaper story about children who suffered loss after
the Sept. 11 attack sparked the movement, when Schlubach and her
business partner Charlene Scharf read about the estimated 15,000
children who lost a parent and felt an urgent need to do something
to help.
A
meeting followed with Debra Roberts and Linda McLean, local filmmakers
and creators of "Little Pearls,’’ a series of inspirational
PSAs for television. From there, the idea evolved to send messages
to NYC children in film.
"The
PSA will be sent to New York for airing on major television stations,
and both the mini-documentary and PSA will be distributed to their
schools by the Red Cross, Schlubach said.
From
there, Schlubach said, "miracles began to happen.’’
"The
Grove Park Inn Resort and Spa generously offered to fund the project.
William Randolph Elementary’s Media Club provided the fourth-and
fifth-grade students and the messages for the video taping. Allied
Vaughn donated 1,000 video duplications,’’ she said.
Others
involved added their expertise: a New Light Video Production Company,
Rick Aguar and Renee Molko designed the logo based on the theme,
‘Child to Child, Heart to Heart.’’
Other
schools, including Black Mountain and Estes elementaries, had
special events to remember the victims and will appear on film.
"In
addition to the 1,000 videos, we’d like to send thoughtful, supportive
messages so we are asking the children of our area to join together
in a huge letter-writing campaign,’’ Schlubach said.
Two
large, decorative mailboxes will be in the Asheville Mall in the
open court near The Limited and outside Pack Place downtown.
Another
mailbox will be available to take to individual schools upon request;
the public mailboxes will be in place from Oct. 17 through Oct.
26.
The
letter campaign will end on Oct. 27, when a mailbox will be available
at dedication events for the new Riverlink community park beginning
at 1 p.m.
"Working
with the children has been such a blessing,’’ said filmmaker Debra
Roberts. "The level of cooperation and support Linda and
I have received to make these messages has been phenomenal. What
began as a project called Child to Child, Heart to Heart became
a community campaign involving many, many generous hearts,’’ she
said.
CREDITS:
Camera:
Rick Aguar
Editing:
Shane Peters and Scott Dobbins—A New Light Video
Debra
Roberts and Linda McLean
Funding: The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa
(for
both the Little Pearl and its related 5 minute mini-documentary)
