It started as a simple project for the Peer Leadership group at Weehawken’s Roosevelt School and has evolved into an event that will be remembered for a lifetime.
In an effort to find civic-minded activities for her sixth grade students, Roosevelt School teacher Jill Barbarise stumbled across an idea in a national education magazine.
"They were looking for children to make boutonnières to give to veterans on Veterans Day or cancer patients on Valentine’s Day," Barbarise said. "I thought it would be interesting for our kids to participate in the program." Boutonnieres are flower-like ribbons that can be worn.
There is an organization, "USA Rosebuds," headed by Dr. Larry Baran of Chicago, that gives the accessories to veterans and cancer patients.
Beginning last year, Barbarise had her students, as well as the Girl Scout troop that she works with in her home of Oradell in Bergen County, make the flowered rosebud boutonnieres to be distributed throughout the area.
However, the events of Sept. 11 changed everything. Barbarise’s students were devastated by the World Trade Center tragedy.
"I was very sad and angry," said 11-year-old Carla Veras. "I knew that I would never see those shining towers ever again in the New York skyline. How could somebody do that?"
"They were there for years and years," said 11-year-old Letty Echanique. "I was sad because they were gone and I was mad because of what happened to all those people who died."
"You could clearly see the smoke out of our classroom window," 11-year-old Edgar Montilla said. "I was really scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen next."
Barbarise decided that her students had to do something to help the victims. She wrote an e-mail to Dr. Baran, explaining her unique situation.
"I told him that our students saw it happen and that it affected them tremendously," Barbarise said. "I told him that our students wanted to make the boutonnieres for the victims of the tragedy. Dr. Baran then took my E-mail and sent it out to about 500 other teachers across the country."
With that, Project HEART – which stands for Healing and Empathy for Americans Recovering from Tragedy – was born. Instead of sending the boutonnieres to sick veterans and the elderly, the boutonnieres, complete with red, white and blue ribbons, would go to the various people affected by the tragedy.
"Some went to the workers at Ground Zero, some went to the police, fire and emergency service workers," Barbarise explained. "We also sent 700 to the families of Cantor Fitzgerald and 400 to Morgan Stanley. We handed them out at the Ridgewood train station, all over Hudson and Bergen County."
Each boutonniere was accompanied with a card that had a personalized note from one of the Roosevelt School students, offering condolences and warm greetings.
Remarkably, the kids from Roosevelt School made 6,000 boutonnieres, all complete with a personalized greeting from the youngsters, all to be distributed throughout the area.
"We just wanted to get our thoughts out to the people who were there helping us and helping the victims," Montilla said. "We started writing to the relief workers, to let them know we cared."
"By doing this, I think we all got distracted from the tragedy," said 12-year-old Andrea Arias. "Even though we’re kids, we wanted to show them that we really cared."
Word got out about the Roosevelt kids’ efforts, through Dr. Baran’s mass e-mail that traveled around the country. And the warmth that the kids from Roosevelt School sent out to the workers and victims started to trickle back to them.
Letters of thanks came from a pastor of a church in Stamford, Connecticut, who wrote to Montilla personally and said that the boutonnieres went to help his parish heal and feel better. A school in California was so touched by the efforts of the Roosevelt School kids that they raised money to send the Roosevelt kids each a Beanie Bear, with appreciation.
Cards, letters, well wishes have come to the school in droves. Many of the cards and letters were from people who were working at Ground Zero and were touched and moved to receive the boutonnieres. Some of the boutonnieres are still on display at Ground Zero.
One New York police officer sent a student a replica of his police badge. A Jewish boy in Connecticut sent a letter of thanks to a Muslim student at Roosevelt. Cards and letters came to Roosevelt School from Michigan, Maine, Minnesota, Florida, Illinois and North Carolina. Every day, there are hundreds of messages and letters to open, from other kids who wanted to convey their sympathy to the kids of Roosevelt.
A group of second graders from Michigan all wrote personal greetings to the kids of Weehawken, telling them how sorry they were about the World Trade Center tragedy and how much they were equally saddened by the events of Sept. 11.
The cards and letters are all on display on a wall outside Barbarise’s classroom. The halls are filled with boxes of boutonnieres that are ready to be shipped out.
"I never thought it would get this big," Montilla said. "We’ve made pen pals all across the country. Word just spread of what we were doing. It was a really good feeling to get all the cards and letters."
"I think other people knew that we were okay, but they wanted to say that they were okay as well," Arias said. "We all gave support and stuck together. That’s the best message. And as many cards we write and send out, we’re getting some back from all over the place. It’s a great feeling."
Veras believes that it was a showing of kid power.
"A lot of people didn’t know that kids could do something so good, do such a good job," Veras said. "Even though we’re kids, we can make a difference. Now, when I wake up, I know that I’m doing something good for my country. And we’re getting so many responses from everywhere, so that’s been fun as well."
"I’m really surprised by it all," Echanique said. "I didn’t think it would turn out like this. I just thought we would make the ribbons and the cards and that would be it, that we were giving a tribute for those who died and those who helped. We wanted to help as well. But it’s turned out so well for all of us."
So much so that Dr. Baran recently paid a personal visit to the kids from Roosevelt to personally thank the students for their efforts.
"He loves our kids," Barbarise said. "He is so impressed how this all got started. And this is an unbelievable class of kids. I’ve never had a class like this. They are all so willing to keep making the boutonnieres. They love doing it."
A representative of the New Jersey Education Association took 800 boutonnieres and will distribute them to the Armed Forces at the Pentagon next week. The chain just goes on and on.
"It’s amazing," Barbarise said. "I never imagined it could turn out this way. But the kids just love doing it. They have the innocence that they want to touch people’s hearts, because they’re hearts were broken by the tragedy. And they’re making more every day. They have about 2,000 more to make to give to the families of the victims. But we can’t keep up with all the letters and e-mail messages we’ve received. Our kids now have pen pal friends all over the country."
Added Barbarise, "All of a sudden, the fear that they had caused by the tragedy has been taken and instead of reliving the fear, there’s something so good that came out of it. It shows that kids everywhere have been all connected by this."