Preschoolers don red noses to help children in need

Posted on June 4, 2015 By Editor Junior Residents

On May 21, four-year-old Leah Postal of San Jose wore a red plastic nose at school for a very special reason. “To raise money for poor kids so they can go to the doctor and stay healthy,” she said.

Joining Postal in wearing red noses were 11 of her schoolmates in Nicole Alexander’s VPK class at Learning Tree Preschool in San Jose Baptist Church. The children were taking part in Red Nose Day, a fundraiser initiated by the NBC television network in an effort to alleviate childhood poverty.

Red Nose Day got its start in the United Kingdom several years ago as a way to raise funds for childhood poverty, said Alexander. This year is the first time it has been held in the United States, she said.

By giving at least $1, participants receive a red “clown” nose to wear. Money raised will support several United States charities that focus on children’s needs including: Boys & Girls Clubs of America; Children’s Health Fund; Feeding America; Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance; The Global Fund; Oxfam; Lift; Save the Children; and The United Way.

For Alexander’s students, the purpose of wearing the noses was not so much to raise funds as to build “awareness of childhood poverty and things children can do to help during this pilot year,” she said.

Several of Alexander’s students got this message. Ben Hopkins of San Marco said he was wearing his nose “because we need everybody to be happy. When we went to Target and saw people on the road, they didn’t have a home. It makes them laugh so they won’t be sad anymore. Some people don’t have mommies and daddies.”

Hopkin’s classmate Jake Allen McGill, who is the son of San Jose Baptist Youth Pastor Marcus McGill, agreed that happiness was important. “It’s to make children happy so they have enough money to buy food,” he said. Meanwhile, his friend Cecilia Platten is able to recite what children need most. “Children have to have a school, and to have fun, and to have a doctor to go to, and some medicine, and a house, and a school,” she said.