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Residents of Bonner Springs are opening their hearts to the people of Haiti as several organizations plan fundraising efforts.

After the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti on Tuesday, Jan. 12, Bonner Springs residents have decided to step up and send relief to those suffering.

At Clark Middle School, Anna Wiley, faculty sponsor of the Family Career and Community Leaders of America club, has students who took it upon themselves to start a fundraiser.

“I have sixth, seventh and eighth graders and in each class they said their hearts were going out to Haiti people,” Wiley said. “They just felt so bad for them.”

Doing their part, the club has been collecting money at lunch.

Also at the middle school, students of Jacqui Brewer are teaming up with the Independence, Mo., school district after hearing about a young girl in that district, Kathleen Horner, whose mom is from Haiti.

Brewer said the students would be making rings out of long strips of paper and selling them to students to write messages on.

The goal, between both districts, is to sell enough rings to span the distance from Bonner Springs to Independence, which is 26.2 miles.

“I think it’s good for them to see there are people in the world who have less, and that they can still make a difference for them,” Brewer said of the fundraiser.

The French classes at Bonner Springs High School will be selling crepes during lunch as their way to help.

“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” said French teacher Marsha Nelson. “It’s a world view. We need to look at the needs in the other places.”

At Bonner Springs Elementary School, fourth-grader Demonte Richmond took it upon himself to ask the school to send out a letter asking parents to donate snack items. Then, every morning, he goes from class to class selling the snacks. The money raised will be sent to Haiti.

Other organizations have found other ways, besides money, to help.

The Bonner Springs Rotary Club recently made 50 health kits for Haiti for the organization Heart to Heart.

Club members bought items such as towels, toothpaste and toothbrushes and hand sanitizer and packed them in kits. Rotary president Judy Miksch said the basic health items were something many people in Haiti were living without right now.

“You just think how blessed we are to live where we do and have basic comforts,” she said.

Also making health kits is the Bonner Springs Methodist Church.

Pastor Dan Waters said the Methodist Church has had a longstanding missionary relationship with Haiti, which was one of the reasons members of the congregation wanted to help.

Other local churches such as the First Christian Church and the Bonner Springs Baptist Church have also pitched in help.

The First Christian Church has been collecting donations for Week of Compassion, a disaster relief and humanitarian assistance program fund of the Christian Church.

The Bonner Springs Baptist Church is planning a chili dinner and silent auction to raise money to be sent to Haiti through World Vision. The dinner will be from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19, at the Bonner Springs Community

Local businesses will donate various items to be auctioned off. The price for the dinner is $5 for adults, $3 for children 3-10, and free for children 2 and under. For more information, call (913) 422-0611, or e-mail A Heart4Haiti@yahoo.com.

For those looking for another way of getting involved, the Bonner Springs Union Bank and Trust, 309 Oak St., is a collection point for the Red Cross International Response Fund. People can walk in a donate toward to the cause.

“I think it’s on everybody’s mind,” said Paul Bush, regional president of Union Bank and Trust. “We certainly think it’s the right thing to do. It’s a way for people here in Bonner Springs to help.”

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