A Huge thank you to all who joined us at Souper Bowls. It was a tremendous success!!
On November 23rd A Walk In Their Shoes was honored at the New Horizons Annual Thanksgiving Breakfast. Check it out under Events.
Madison Enos, Maria Bessette,Haley Enos, Julia Enos, Kate Farrell, Kara Yennaco, Alexa Tsao
“We aspire to positively impact the lives of those supported by New Horizons for New Hampshire. By utilizing new technology, we will document our yearlong journey while expressing the influence New Horizons for NH has on our community,” is our mission statement. We are seven students from Windham High School: Maria Bessette, Haley Enos, Madison Enos, Julia Enos, Kate Farrell, Alexa Tsao, and Kara Yennaco.
Our Cool Logo created by Haley Enos
Together, we have begun a year-long project dedicated to the ongoing issue of homelessness in America. We call ourselves A Walk In Their Shoes. We are a non profit organization and for the next twelve months we will be working with New Horizons for New Hampshire located in Manchester, NH. This facility serves as a homeless shelter, a food pantry, and a soup kitchen to those living without a home or impoverished families and individuals. We will be volunteering at the shelter, holding fundraisers, and culminating with a documentary to present to the community.
Over the summer, we have already begun to create a solid foundation for the following year by touring the New Horizons facility, volunteering at a New Horizons road race, meeting with influential members of the community, and discussing our goals for the following year. The school has given us full use of its video production equipment to create our documentary during the upcoming school year and summer 2011.
Because of all the work we will be putting into creating this documentary, we are piloting the Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO) program for our school district. This will allow us to receive academic credit for the work we do outside of school. Recently, with the help of the technology at Windham High School, we were able to accomplish our first task: redesigning a PowerPoint presentation used by New Horizons on a daily basis. Currently, we are meeting with students from Salem High School and Pelham High School to try and generate a joint fundraiser in addition to setting up a meeting with members of the New Horizons alumni. We are all very excited for the prospect of the upcoming year. If you would like to contribute to A Walk In Their Shoes, please refer to our home page for details. To learn more about New Horizons, visit www.newhorizonsfornh.org.
Click on Events page for details on our joint fundraiser with Pelham and Salem high school students!
Join us at the WINDHAM, SALEM, PELHAM WALK IN THEIR SHOES on November 7th at 1pm at Windham High School.
Quite amazing what you are all taking part in-such an experience I’m sure this has and will continue to be! You should be very proud of ALL of your efforts~such role models for so many!
Ms. Londo
Thank you very much, Ms. Londo. We are really hoping to make a positive impact on New Horizons.
Kate
Thank you, Ms. Londo!
Thanks so much! We’re all really excited to really get going! Thanks for being so enthusiastic about it (:
Congratulations to you all for a magnificent and meaningful project. At such a young age you already know that it is both a pleasure and a privilege to further the good work of an organization like New Horizons, that addresses the needs of the poorest among us with compassion and dignity. Your generation will make the world a better place!!
Thank you so much!! We really appreciate all the support!
Thank you for your kind response. We are really hoping to make a difference with our project and help New Horizons. I hope that you can attend the walk that we are hosting on November 7th (see the Events page for details), and please spread the word about the walk and our website!
Kate
Thank you so much! :]
This is a fantastic idea! It is great that you took the initiative and started this by yourselves. I wish you luck in your endeavors and hope you make a large impact with your group while also broadening your “horizons.” It is amazing how many people in New Hampshire and the surrounding area are living in poverty and I am glad that students of Windham High School, in only their second year, have started a program such as this. From what I’ve read of New Horizons for New Hampshire, it seems like an exceptional organization which has affected many lives and I am jealous that you have the time and opportunity to be a part of it. My experiences with ESSO (Exeter Social Service Organization) have been amazing and I hope this group provides those same experiences to the students of Windham High School, as everybody should have a chance to give back to the community.
Thank you so much for all of your support!
Thanks for the enthusiasm! It’s great to see that people from other schools are just as excited as we are! I hope you’re havinga great time at Exeter!
Thank you so much! I hope school is going well for you!
Thank you! It’s great to know we have support!
Thanks, Connor! We are all really excited about this project, and we hope that we can help New Horizons as much as possible. They are a fantastic organization, and it is nice to know we can assist them in their magnanimous efforts. It truly is eye-opening to look at the statistics and see just how many people are affected by homelessness. Thanks for your support! We hope to see you and your friends at the walk on November 7th, and please spread the word!
Perhaps your group would like to experience the work they do first hand! Volunteers serve the evening meal each night-365 days a year! Many of these are scheduled in (church groups, etc. that take the same night each month), but they may be able to accommodate you on a one-time basis. It is mostly the homeless that come to the evening meal. In the same building is the food pantry which serves groceries to poor families. Volunteers distribute these items. I happen to coordinate this program for my church. Our next service date is October 28 in the food pantry. If you like your group could come then. You’d have to be there at 5:45 and you’ll be done by about 7:30. We also do the first Saturday of every month in the Soup Kitchen. If you’d like to see their program in action, let me know. Or, you could call New Horizons for the possibility of another date that would be of better convenience. It would make a great addition to your video! If you are interested I’ll give Thalia Bessette my phone number and you can call me! Let me know.
Thanks so much for this wonderful offer! We’ve actually been trying to set up a date where we can all volunteer together with Mary, but so far things have been too busy for us to find a time slot. We’d really like to start going to New Horizons and volunteering in the soup kitchen or food pantry at least once a month, so we really appreciate this kind offer! I think I can confidently say that we would all be very interested in joining your group to volunteer since it hasn’t been easy for to find an opportunity. I agree that this footage is necessary to have in the film, and it was our original hope to have time working in and with the shelter. It’s so incredibly generous of you to invite us to share your church’s time, and we’d definitely like to take you up on this!
Again, thank you so much!!
Donna,
Thank you so much for letting us have your time slot to work in New Horizons! I know all of us had a great experience volunteering there; the staff working there was wonderful and getting to see New Horizons in action was amazing. This was an awesome opportunity for us, and we really appreciate everything that you’ve done. We even got some photos for our documentary! Thank you!
Thank you so much for the opportunity, we really appreciate it!
Knowing how incredibly busy you young folks are with attaining high academic goals, pursuing individual and team sports, actively involved with music, the arts, and more, it seems almost impossible that you can find the time to incorporate this VERY worthy cause into your busy lives. But it is evident that you consider being part of the ‘whole community’ is at least as important as your individual desires and pursuits. Kudos to you all. I am immensely proud of you and for you. Honestly, you continue to be an inspiration to me personally, and to many others of all ages!
Thank you so much, Mrs. Fahey :] We really appreciate all the support you’re giving us!
Thank you very much, Mrs. Fahey. I agree that while we are all busy, it is a very worthwhile cause, and I am very happy to be participating in this project. Any of us who know you also feel that you have been an inspiration to us as a teacher and a friend. Thanks again for all of your kind words! We hope to see you soon!
Thanks so much Mrs. Fahey! (: We’re truly grateful for all the encouragement you’re giving us. Hope to see you soon! We miss you!!
I am blown away with your website, your enthusiasm, and your good deeds.
Keep up the GREAT work. We need more thoughtful, giving young people like you.
Maureen Connors (Donna Fallon’s retired side kick)
Thank you so much, Mrs. Connors! Hope to see you at our walk!
Thank you so much for your encouragement! We really hope we can get the word out about New Horizons of NH and all of the great work that they do. Please spread the word about our site and the walk!
Thank you so much for all the support, Mrs. Connors! It means so much!
LOVE your website girls! Great impact!
Mrs. Letizio,
Thank you so much for all of your support! It really means a lot to our group!
Thank you so much, Mrs. Letizio!
Thanks, Mrs. Letizio! You do a lot of wonderful work for the community as well. We are so excited for the walk and hope a lot of people attend. Miss you!
I am awe struck over the big hearts that your group is showing. New Horizons is blessed with a fantastic staff who dedicates themselves to their mission, but it is only through the continued efforts of amazing volunteers such as “A Walk In Their Shoes” that New Horizons can fulfill it. Actually, I was honored to have worked for New Horizons, a job which gave me so much joy and a new found compassion to serve those who are truly in need. You will learn over the year of your project that you will get back tenfold from your mission to what you put into your dedication and service to New Horizons. I wish you the best of luck and thank you.
Ms. Durant,
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, and thanks for taking the time to comment. We really hope to expand our impact and help out New Horizons as much as possible, and we are thrilled to be able to contribute to their efforts.
Mrs. Durant,
Thank you so much for commenting on our website! It is people like you who are being so supportive and compassionate that make us able to continue our project with success! it’s great that you’ve worked with New Horizons in the past, and we also feel extremely lucky to have a chance to work with them now! I hope we’ll see you at the next fundraiser we put on in early January and at more events soon to come. Thanks so much for your kind words and enthusiastic encouragement!
What a great project. I was so disappointed when unexpected company arrived and I have to miss the Sunday 11/7 Walk. I will be sending a donation. Keep up the good works.
Hi Mrs. Heinze,
Thanks so much for the support and taking the time to comment! We wish you could have been at the walk today and we’re sorry you had to miss it, it was a great success! it is so kind of you to be helping out our group even though you couldn’t be there! We’re already beginning planning our next fundraiser which will hopefully be in late January before the Super Bowl. Hope you can come!!
Mrs. Heinze,
Thank you so much for your donation! Your contribution really is appreciated! We’re sorry you missed the walk, but A Walk In Their Shoes is planning on having another fundraiser sometime near the Superbowl. We hope to see you there!
Just wanted to let you ladies know how immensely proud I am of ALL your efforts on behalf of New Horizons and what their mission is. Congratulations on participating and raising the funds you did. Surely many folks will reap the benefits of your time and generosity. Looking forward to more ‘good things to come’.
Thanks so much, Mrs. Fahey! We really are glad that so many people stand behind us and see that we’re trying to make a difference! We really miss you! Hope to see you at our next event!!
I came across this part of a speech from Eric Shinseki, US Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and thought of all of you. Great walk on 11/7! Keep up the wonderful work.
“Random acts of kindness are important but they are not enough. The world does not thrive this way. What is most needed are unselfish people who are regularly, habitually, and deliberately kind; people who make caring for others a personal devotion, a part of their everyday lives.”
That’s such an outstanding quote, and I’m so glad it made you think of us! We’re so proud that you would relate us to such a considerate line. Thanks for your ongoing thoughtfulness! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the walk as much as we did! We’re most likely going to have our next event soon, around early February. Hope to see you there!
What a wonderful project your team is working on. Thank you to our daughter, Mrs. Hartmann for inviting us to your soup night, we really enjoyed it. Good luck with all aspects of your project. You are an inspiration for many.
Hi Ms. Thesier,
I am so glad that you enjoyed the event. We appreciate your patronage and really appreciate the generosity that you displayed by donating the prize money back to the cause. We can’t wait to donate our proceeds to New Horizons, and hopefully when you see the documentary, you will understand how much you helped.
Thanks again,
Kate
Thank you very much, Mrs. Thesier! We appreciate you coming to the event so much. Also, thank you for donating your prize money back to our project!
I work with my company on a food drive for Philabundance our local food pantry here in the Tristate area (Pennsylvania, Delaware & New Jersey) and am significantly older than you girls. It is great to see teenagers understanding the need to help others. We will either all stand or fall together and at some point in time all of us need help. Keep up the good work.
Lori,
Thank you so much for your support! It’s amazing knowing that other people, regardless of their location, are making a difference and helping others. We really appreciate your comment, and we wish you luck with your work!
Hi Lori,
Thank you so much for your comment and kind words. It was nice of you to take the time to comment. It is wonderful to hear that you work with your company to help Philabundance. We have met a large number of wonderful people through New Horizons and we have learned a lot about the plight of people (some not much older than us) who have found themselves in need of the services that New Horizon offers. I agree with you that at some point in time we all need help and no matter what kind or type of help that is or why we need it, it would be nice to know that someone cares enough to be there. We are very fortunate that our families and circumstances have provided us with daily support,understanding, and access to warm homes, food, and things that many others do not have. Hopefully through this project we have spread the word that people are a paycheck away from needing services like New Horizons and Philabundance and that any contribution can make a difference. Thank you again.
Thank you so much Lori! It is great to hear from someone also trying to make a difference. Good luck to you!
Thanks so much for the encouragement! It’s so nice to hear stories of people making a difference–no matter their differences! We really appreciate it and wish you the best of luck in all your efforts!