Students at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child’s PK-6 coeducational Lower School steered small acts of kindness to help make a large impact in the lives of families fleeing to Poland to escape the violence and conflict in Ukraine.  

In all, Oak Knoll shipped 179 pounds of necessities — more than 2,000 pairs of socks and 1,000 pairs of underwear — to Poland to aid Ukrainian refugees in April.

Grimes brought the idea for the donation drive to the Lower School after learning about families in Poland currently sheltering refugees. Out of the more than 2 million refugees in Poland, half are school-age children in need.

“Over Spring Break, I reached out to the owner of my hair salon, who was born in Poland, to ask how her relatives were impacted by the refugees,” said Grimes. “She pulled out her phone and showed me photos of two families currently living with her relatives. She explained that each town was taking 50-60 families and most people left with nothing. And this is a few families, opening their homes so that other families fleeing violence have a safe place to live.” 

Families interested in participating in the drive were asked to donate kids’ and women’s socks and underwear. Monetary donations were also accepted to help offset the high cost of shipping supplies to Poland. The supplies collected from Oak Knoll were shipped directly to Mrs. Grimes’ contact in Poland and distributed locally.

Service to others is a core value of Oak Knoll School. Here, we believe each child is intentionally created by God with purpose. It is through Oak Knoll’s program that students are provided the tools to uncover their passions and determine how they put their gifts and talents into action to make a purposeful difference in the world.

See here for more information about Oak Knoll Lower School’s commitment to service.