Member of 4-H clubs across the region compiled and shipped off a truck load of individualized shoe boxes filled with stuff to do for children and teenagers who were victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

The “Clover Kits” contained coloring books, crayons, pencils, notepads, games, puzzles and candy.

“We let the kids put together whatever they wanted as if they were making it for themselves,” said Margaret Ruff, 4-H Program Associate in Haywood County. More than 300 boxes were assembled by 4-H members in Haywood, Jackson, Swain, Graham and Cherokee counties.

“Kids helping kids is pretty cool. We know what they are going through just being teen-agers, and put everything else on top of that,” said Patty Popular, a 13-year-old at Waynesville Middle School. “I made a few for little girls and little boys, but I also made one for a teen-age boy and sent him a letter to see if he could be my pen pal or something.”

For the smaller kids, Popular included little toys like globs of remoldable clay, crayons and notepads, and a tiny photo album to hold pictures they might have escaped with of what their house used to look like or pictures of missing family members.

For the teen-agers, “We gave them notebooks so they could write down what was going on and we gave them crayons because I like coloring and I’m a teenager,” said Popular. “We thought they needed something to lighten their spirits instead of worrying constantly.”

The shoebox project was part of the Helpful Hands, Healing Hearts hurricane recovery effort by 4-H clubs nationwide.

— By Becky Johnson