Learning to Give, Curriculum Division of The LEAGUE

The LEAGUE

Home / Teachers / For the Well-Being of Our Citizens / To the Rescue

To the Rescue

Lesson 3:

From Unit For the Well-Being of Our Citizens

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

9th-12th Grade

Subjects:

Language Arts, Library / Technology and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Advertising/Marketing; Brainstorming; Informational Genre; Research; Universal Themes
PHIL:	Community; Economic Sectors; Four Economic Sectors; Global Community; Homelessness; LEAGUE Wildcard Lesson: Poverty/Hunger/Homelessness; Nonprofit Organizations; Time/Talent/Treasure
SOC:	Contemporary Issues; Economic Impact; For-Profit; Four Economic Sectors; Goods and Services; Government; LEAGUE Optional Lesson: Earth Day; LEAGUE Optional Lesson: One Day; LEAGUE Optional Lesson: The Drive; Nonprofit Organizations; Volunteerism; Wants/Needs

Purpose:

The learners will analyze why nonprofit organizations are needed, especially when there are for profit and governmental institutions which do some of the same work. They will investigate an international and a local nonprofit which work to alleviate poverty in the community and describe the importance of philanthropy in the community.

Duration:

Three Fifty-Five Minute Class Periods

Objectives:

The learner will:

describe the work of organizations which work to alleviate poverty.
speculate on the need for government, for profit organizations and nonprofit organizations to cooperate in the fight against poverty.
promote philanthropy and the work of nonprofit organizations.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

None for this lesson.

Materials:

Work of the Salvation Army (Attachment One), teacher copy
24-Hour Homeless Experience (Attachment Two)

Handout 1: Work of the Salvation Army
Handout 2: 24-Hour Homeless Experience

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:

Put the words “for profit” and “nonprofit” on the board. Review the meaning of the terms.

Have the learners design a checklist for what a good non-profit or for profit organization should do for the persons it serves.
Take the learners to the computer lab or media center. Allow learner teams of two to research two organizations that help those in poverty. Their assignment is to discover:
who founded the organization;
what incident/situation caused its start;
the type(s) of service provided;
who in the community it serves;
the number of people served;
its effectiveness in doing its work (use the checklist developed by the class).
Have the teams report on the information they gained.
Put the term Salvation Army on the board. As a whole group, have the learners brainstorm what they know about the organization. Have several volunteers copy the information on to the board as volunteers give answers. When no more information is forthcoming, determine if the organization is a for-profit or nonprofit organization. Using Work of the Salvation Army (Attachment One), give the learners an idea of the breadth of the work of the organization, especially the immense range of its work. Speculate on a mission statement for the Salvation Army. Go online on one of its Web sites and obtain its mission statement (which is different for each site but is basically similar).
Ask the learners if any of the work of the Salvation Army is surprising. Have the learners explain. Ask the learners to speculate on why the Salvation Army needs to exist at all. Why isn’t the government (national, state or local) providing those services instead? (In many cases the services are being provided by both.) Have the learners speculate on the need for government, nonprofit and for-profit organizations to take part in such activities.
Using the list of organizations researched above, select a nonprofit and invite a spokesperson from the organization to address the class about the work of the organization. Ask how the learners and others can aid the organization through their time, talent or resources. Discuss the feasibility of a class philanthropy project.
As a culminating project for the lesson, divide the class into teams of two. Assign the completion of an informational brochure on a local nonprofit organization that works to alleviate poverty. The brochure should describe the work of the organization, including a mission statement if it has one; its status as a nonprofit organization; the founding of the organization; who in the community it serves; the number of people served; its effectiveness in doing its work. It should explain the importance of giving to the community and include an invitation to the reader to become involved in philanthropy through this organization or others.

Assessment:

The completed informational brochure may serve as an assessment of learning.

School/Home Connection:

None for this lesson.

Extension:

To reinforce understanding of the dire condition homelessness places upon families and individuals, a “homeless” experience may be recreated. See 24-Hour Homeless Experience (Attachment Two) for details.

Bibliographical References:

Hidden in America. Martin Bell, Director. Hallmark Home Entertainment, 1996. ASIN: 157492463X
http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/
36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/
a6e1430efc484a9780256c680032851c?OpenDocument
This Web site is the international Web site for one of the Salvation Army programs which helps those in poverty.
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn.nsf/vw-
sublinks/85256DDC007274DF85256B8F005A91E3?openDocument This Web site is the national Web site for one of the Salvation Army programs which helps those in poverty.

Lesson Developed and Piloted by:

Jennifer Fields
Black River Public School
Black River Public School
Holland, MI 49423

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

Work of the Salvation Army

International Statistics (as of January 1, 2002)

Countries and other territories where SA serves	109
Languages used in SA work	175
Corps, outposts, societies, new plants and recovery churches	15,456
Goodwill centers	273
Corps-based community development programs	582
Beneficiaries	546,414
Thrift stores/charity shops (corps)	1,396
Recycling centers	16

Social Programs

Residential Hostels for homeless and transient	539
Capacity	29,264
Emergency lodges	211
Capacity	11,507
Children’s homes	202
Capacity	8,251
Homes for the elderly	212
Capacity	14,954
Homes for the disabled	39
Capacity	1,464
Homes for the blind	8
Capacity	369
Remand and probation homes	59
Capacity	941
Homes for street children	28
Capacity	567
Mother and baby homes	48
Capacity	1,588
Training centers for families	36
Capacity	877
Care homes for vulnerable people	45
Capacity	684

Other residential care homes/hostels	246
Capacity	9,778
Women’s and men’s refuge centers	255
Capacity	2,035

Day Care

Community centers	540
Early childhood education centers	218
Capacity	13,108
Day centers for the elderly	52
Capacity	1,456
Play groups	211
Capacity	5,811
Day centers for the hearing impaired	2
Capacity	70
Day centers for street children	18
Capacity	709
Day nurseries	112
Capacity	17,297
Drop-in centers for youth	178
Other day care centers	149
Capacity	2,644

Addiction Dependency

Non-residential programs	92
Capacity	5,873
Residential programs	128
Capacity	6,598
Harbour Light programs	72
Capacity	6,543

Service to the Armed Forces

Hostels for service personnel	10
Clubs and canteens	26
Mobile units for service personnel	44
Chaplains	50

Emergency Response

Disaster rehabilitation schemes (inc civil unrest)	17,397
Participants	950,230
Refugee programs - host country	5
Participants	7,860
Refugee rehabilitation programs	1
Participants	7,000

Services to the Community

Prisoners visited	248,835
Prisoners helped on discharge	52,283
Police courts - people helped	137,184
Missing persons – applications	58,439
Number traced	8,270
Night patrol/anti-suicide - number helped	42,798
Community youth programs	61
Beneficiaries	7,872
Employment bureaus – applications	181,181
Initial referrals	164,882
Counseling - people helped	442,769
Feeding Centers	1,039
General relief - people helped	17,693,151
Emergency relief	3,792,919
Emergency mobile units	75 7
Restaurants and cafes	25
Thrift stores/charity shops (social)	1,398
Apartments for elderly	1,938
Capacity	5,233

Services to the Community

Hostels for students, workers, etc.	61
Capacity	3,511
Land settlements (SA villages)	10
Capacity	2,592
Other similar centers (farms, etc)	18
Capacity	37,211

Health Program

General hospitals	25
Capacity	2,704
Maternity hospitals	8
Capacity	250
Other specialist hospitals	4
Capacity	188
General clinics	131
Specialist clinics	72
Capacity	5,215
Mobile clinics	346
Number of inpatients	352,147
Number of outpatients	934,667
Number of doctors/medics	6,480
Invalid/convalescent homes	2
Capacity	67
Health education programs	44
Beneficiaries	619,687
Eye camp - beneficiaries	30,101

Education Program

Kindergarten/sub primary	643
Primary schools	926
Upper primary and middle schools	88
Secondary and high schools	187
Number of pupils	440,056
Number of teachers	13,698
Vocational training schools	89
Schools for the blind	6
Schools for the disabled	9
Colleges, universities, staff training and distance learning centers	746

*information compiled from the Salvation Army Year Book

http://www1.salvationarmy.org/heritage.nsf/36c107e27b0ba7a98025692e0032abaa/
a6e1430efc484a9780256c680032851c?OpenDocument

Handout 2Print Handout 2

24-Hour Homeless Experience

Anticipatory Set:

Have students imagine what it’s like to be homeless by listing stereotypes of homelessness. Explain to them that they are going to be homeless for 24 hours and pick a suitable time/location for the experience with them.

Be sure to have information available to parents, along with a very specific list of items students may have with them.
TO BRING: one pair of shoes, socks, pants, shirt, sweatshirt, and/or t-shirt;

$5.00 in cash; five empty pop cans; one sleeping bag; one cardboard box or a series of boxes along with duct tape, for sleeping

Be sure to have a cell phone with you so there is available communication with parents at all times.
Suggested experience:

9-11 a.m. Video: “Hidden in America” with ample discussion about sensitive subject matter.

11-1 p.m. Lunch at simulated soup kitchen; learners walk to destination (Have the boxes, sleeping bags and cans taken to the site where you’re sleeping by another volunteer.)

1-3 p.m. Walk to a thrift shop and have students buy at least one item that they’ll wear for the night and change at the store. They’ll use their $5 here.

3:00 p.m. Use a public facility for water/bathroom facilities by walking there, i.e., library.

4:30 p.m. Walk to a presentation by the director of a local mission/half-way home.

5:30 p.m. Eat at the above simulated soup kitchen.

7:00 p.m. Attend a free community entertainment or event

8:30 p.m. Walk to and set up “box city” in a safe establishment with bathroom facilities. Create a fire and begin discussion on the day’s experience.

9:30 p.m. Invite a local homelessness advocate to speak to the learners about the community and give the learners an opportunity to ask questions.

11:30 p.m. Sleep while families chaperone in two hour shifts throughout the night.

NOTE: During the night, have chaperones hide empty pop cans in the bushes while learners are sleeping.

7:00 a.m. Wake up; clean up; surprise learners by asking them to find the total number of cans. (Be sure to have your chaperones write down the total they’ve hidden in a specific area that you’ve agreed upon so you’re not on a wild goose chase.)

8:00 a.m. Walk to and have the learners purchase their breakfast at the local grocery store for the entire group with their returnable bottles. (Breakfast must include fruit and protein. They could buy juice for everyone.) Eat in the parking lot.

9:30 a.m. Get picked up by parent volunteers, go to the local mall (WARN SECURITY!) and join the mall walkers and local homeless folks.

NOTE: Learners should walk alone for 45 minutes or so and simply feel the tired exhaustion that comes from people looking at you and being “bored.”

10:45 a.m. Family potluck and brunch at a participant’s home. Include discussion and invite their entire families in celebration of the event. (The learners will ABSOLUTELY be as crabby as you feel!)

Following your experience, be sure to have the learners give feedback in writing as well as in a group and hear what their experience meant. Take the information they gathered prior to the experience and have them look it over again. Create a project with them where they show what they learned and what they’re excited about both through your school community and the local community.

Assessment: Students should be graded on their participation, their contribution to the group efforts and their final project chosen as a group

Academic Standards:

State:

Philanthropy Framework:

Unit Contents:

Overview:For the Well-Being of Our Citizens Summary

Lessons:

1.: Social Programs and Government Responsibility
2.: Poverty and Human Rights
3.: To the Rescue