VALLEY ROUNDUP : Chatsworth : Video Distribution to Benefit Children

There are 400 Disney and G-rated videos in an office at Chaminade Middle School, but they won’t be there for long.

Next month, Michael Hart, dean of students and a math teacher, will distribute them to children at area hospitals.

He was inspired to collect and distribute the videos by the death of his sister, Eileen Hart, 52, who succumbed to multi-organ failure in January.

“It’s my way of honoring her by doing this,” said Hart, 48, of Granada Hills. “She loved kids, and she was a wonderful person. This is something she would’ve felt very good about.”

Students began donating the videos to Hart at the start of the school year.

“Every day, I get a stream of videos in here,” he said. “I’m averaging 50 videos a day.”

Hart said he plans to collect 800 videos and distribute them at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and to the children’s wards of Valley hospitals.

The private Catholic school’s 625 students may distribute them to fulfill community service requirements.

“Students at Chaminade are asked to do community service,” Hart said. “It’s important for teachers to get involved also.”