SHERMAN OAKS : Ice Cream Sales Offer Lesson in Philanthropy

“We need more cookies n’ cream!” shouted fourth-grader William Wilkerson as he surveyed the crowd of Buckley School second- and third-graders swarming in front of the campus “milk house” to buy a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.

“These grades usually sell us out,” he said, wiping more ice cream on his already mottled T-shirt. “When the fifth-graders have their lunch period, they get frustrated because we run out of flavors.”

William and the rest of Buckley’s Lower School Student Council have run their campus ice-cream stand during lunch every other Wednesday since early February to raise money for a swing and slide set for a 4-year-old girl diagnosed with an immunodeficiency disorder.

The students’ efforts are part of a new Make-A-Wish Foundation program called “Wish Granting at School.”

The foundation, which realizes the wishes of children with terminal or life-threatening illnesses, adopted the new program in January to expose healthy children to the importance of community philanthropy.

Buckley’s Lower School Student Council is the first group of students in Los Angeles County to participate in the program.

Charging $1.50 per scoop of ice cream, the council has already met its $600 goal. Any extra money will be used for other charitable projects, the student leaders said.

“Some kids ask for what we would consider little things,” said fifth-grader Lindsey McGrego, student body president of the private school’s lower grades. “But, to them it’s a lot. We hope to change these people’s lives.”

According to fourth-grade teacher Donna Boranko, the school’s student council adviser, the experience has taught the students many things.

In setting up and operating their own ice-cream stand, the students have learned about business, Boranko said. “They’ve done a lot of promotion, coordinating and have handled lots of money,” she said. “They use math skills and learn how to work together.”

More important, said Boranko, the students learn about what others don’t have. Fourth-grader Caroline Curb Nemoy said that lesson has been the most valuable.

“This is hard work,” she complained as she scooped ice cream for a horde of hungry kids. Pausing for a moment, she added: “But, when you remember that you’re really changing someone’s life, it’s a lot easier to scoop.”