From NBC to NYC Central PA High School Student Collects Donations and Volunteers Time for New York City Homeless



What started as a normal family vacation to Daytona Florida 6 years ago turned out to be a life changing experience for a then 12 year old Mandee Smith. The family vacation with her parents and brothers and sisters opened her eyes to a problem she had never seen in Rural Pennsylvania. Mandee and her brothers and sisters noticed the homeless men and women lining certain streets in Daytona and began asking questions of their parents. That curiosity changed the way the family celebrates Christmas.

Instead of giving each other presents that year, the family spent Christmas day giving food, coffee, and small amounts of money to the homeless people in Daytona. Christmas day was spent talking to these people that had no family to visit and no place to stay. Mandee was amazed at how happy and appreciative they were to have someone make such a small effort. A family tradition was started that year, as each year since the family has made an effort to give to people in need.

When Mandee (Now a senior at Northern Bedford High School in Loysburg, PA) needed to select a senior project, she saw this as the perfect opportunity to take the family 'ss Christmas tradition to a whole new level.

Mandee'ss project is titled from NBC to NYC, and will involve her collecting donations of toys, food, coats and blankets, and money to help the homeless in New York City. Mandee will also spend the week of December 10 - December 16 volunteering her time in various food kitchens and homeless shelters in the city. She has created a website www.NBCtoNYC.com where she will post her progress. When asked what she hoped to accomplish with her project, Mandee stated If I can just make a difference in one person'ss life, and hopefully open some other people'ss eyes to how bad the problem is, it will all be worth it. For more information please contact Mandee by email.





From NBC to NYC Central PA High School Student Collects Donations and Volunteers Time for New York City Homeless