Kids find ways to help during pandemic

A group of New Eastside kids recently traded rocks for charitable donations.

As Chicago entered phase three of the reopening in early June, neighbors poured into Lakeshore East Park to enjoy the nice weather and rekindle long lost social interactions. The kids, many friends since infancy, decided a worthwhile project would be to collect money for charity.

“I saw people struggling during this pandemic, and I wanted to make a difference in my neighborhood and community,” Léa Lutfi, 9, said.

The kids split up in pairs and casually approached people in the park to ask for donations.

“We are raising money to give to charity,” they said, according to Léa. “Do you have a small donation in exchange for shiny rocks?”

They offered rocks they collected as a token of appreciation, in addition to a smile and a “thank you.”

“We all worked together to make it happen,” Isabella Kim, 9, said. “It was so nice that people donated, and it felt good to raise money for charity.”

“What I enjoyed most about this is that I was doing it for a good cause and that it was helping other people,” added Sophie Slotnik, 9.

The group collected $65 on a Saturday afternoon, which was donated to The Chicago Help Initiative (CHI), a charity that the kids are familiar with.

“I volunteered at a Wednesday night dinner this past winter with my school,” Isabella said. “My friends and I had fun and fed people all at the same time.”

Though CHI suspended sit-down meals in the dining room, it’s still serving meals to the homeless on a to-go basis. For more information, visit www.chicagohelpinitiative.org.

Raising money for charity isn’t the only thing New Eastside kids have been doing to help. At the onset of the pandemic, Slotnik used her sewing machine to make masks for kids at her school. She made more than fifty masks and distributed them in the neighborhood.

Talia Lutfi, Léa’s younger sister, made cards for health care workers on the front line.

“I love coloring and wanted to make nurses and doctors happy,” Talia, 6, said. The cards were sent to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center and Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where her father, Dr. Rami Lutfi, works.