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Once Upon A Time
submitted by: Lisa D.
source: St. Petersburg Times
Date: September 29, 2000
By JAMIE FRANCIS
Jasmine Stewart is familiar with the icons that adorn the walls of St. Joseph parish hall in St. Petersburg. The 7-year-old sees them once a week during an after-school program called Wacky Wednesday. She knows where they hang.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is in the corner near the window, his image always awash in sunlight. The thick wooden cross is on the wall nearest 22nd Avenue S, where Jasmine can touch its smooth edge without standing on her tiptoes. Color photographs of African-American bishops line the walls just above her head.
But Jasmine is hooked on a new icon and, like the others, this one looks like her. It reaches out from an 18-inch monitor and leaves her mesmerized.
Jasmine is not a TV junkie. The first-grader would rather serve her friends make-believe pizza rolled out of neon pink Play-Doh or attend a raucous birthday party and help blow out the candles, or even open her math book and practice her favorite subject.
But the fairy tale of Cinderella changes all that. Jasmine is captivated, eyes locked onto the talking box, imagination engaged. She brushes the dust from three red roses plucked from a lonely white vase; they are the only thing separating her from Cinderella, played by actor and singer Brandy. Whoopi Goldberg and Whitney Houston also star in the Disney production. "It made me think I could be a princess, too," Jasmine says of the videotape.
That is exactly what the volunteers from St. Joseph Catholic Church want from their neighborhood outreach program, which was started more than three years ago. "Most of us (volunteers) grew up with cookies and milk and Leave It To Beaver after school," says volunteer Nancy Shannon, "so we try to give them the Leave It To Beaver treatment."
Shannon and the other volunteers believe that individual attention can change lives. If a child comes from school with an "A," they wrap that child in their arms and celebrate. They acknowledge birthdays and supply a Pepperidge Farm cake and a $ 5 bill for the occasion.
They have only five rules, which are printed out in black and white for each child to see:
1. No hitting or pushing!
2. Take turns!
3. No extras of anything until everyone gets a share!
4. No name calling or bad language!
5. Listen to the grown-ups in charge, they are here because they think you are special!!!!!!!
Twenty-seven children who live within a stone's throw of the church are regulars. Each is given a shoebox with his or her name printed on the end, which holds Wacky Wednesday supplies.
Shannon and the others make sure the shoe boxes are kept full. They make a weekly pilgrimage to the Dollar Store in South Pasadena and spend about $ 25 of their own money to fill the boxes. They buy apple juice, Oreo cookies, glue, paper, pencils, paint sets, yo-yos, kids' costume jewelry and other stuff that appeals to the youngsters.
They applied for one of Gov. Jeb Bush's Front Porch grants to help pay for their supplies. They asked for $ 380, the lowest request of any local group seeking money from the urban renewal effort. They were awarded the grant, but because the government had no contracts with vendors who supply such small-ticket items, they ended up with the shiny new Panasonic television with VCR.
They were perplexed but didn't complain. Besides, they know the way to the Dollar Store. They also know the days of Leave It To Beaver are gone, and they obviously know something about passing on dreams.
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