'Morristown Relief Effort' Part 2: The Penpal Project

How many of you think one of you can change the world?

That was Morristown resident Berit Ollestad's opening to a recent presentation in front of second and third graders at .

In this case, Ollestad hoped these kids would be up to the task of changing the world ... with a pen.

The married mother of two told the kids about her own childhood in Seattle, about seeing news reports of devastating storms in the midwest, and her desire to help, "but I was so far away," she said.

More recently, an adult Ollestad again saw devastation befall the midwest, this time in Tuscaloosa, AL. But, unlike her childhood self that had grown up in Washington State, adult Ollestad has been all over the world, from Miami to Brazil, to Morristown. And, Tuscaloosa seemed a little closer now than it did when she was a child.

It was in Morristown that she took up the mantle of organizer last year for a relief effort––which sent two UPS-donated trucks down to the stricken city, filled with clothes, food and a little hope.

Hope might have been hard to come by for many in Tuscaloosa, as a tornado ripped through their businesses, their schools, their homes. Having made the trip down with the relief supplies last year, Ollestad had plenty of photos to show the children, which elicited noticeable gasps from more than a few of them.

"That was somebody's house," Ollestad noted of one photo.

Nearly a year later, Ollestad has decided to keep the relief effort going, and has recruited the students of Normandy Park teacher Cherie Smith.

Ollestad has kept contact with teachers at Alberta Elementary School, in Tuscaloosa, which is where she has set up a penpal program for the students here in Morristown.

Simply put, "I didn't want people to forget about Tuscaloosa," Ollestad told the children. When she told one of her main contacts at the Alabama elementary school that she wanted to move forward with the penpal project, Ollestad said "she almost started crying, she was so excited."

So, Tuscaloosa is on board. And, Normandy Park School is on board. The question now is, "what are you going to write about," Ollestad asked the class.

"You'll realize even though they live far away, they're probably a lot like you," she said.

Third-grader Nina Lolli loves baseball and softball. Second-grader Brian Luvalle is fascinated by tornadoes.

Third-grader Natalie Arredondo said her favorite food was pizza, especially pepperoni pizza. Fellow third-grader Genesis Zuniga said she loves bananas.

And third-grader Elisa Espinoza, surprisingly, loves Brussels Sprouts–usually Kryptonite to kids–which got a laugh out of everyone in the classroom.

As Ollestad's presentation came to a close, she thanked all the soon-to-be penpals for their time and interest in giving some kids they never met seemingly a world away a little more hope, in a way even the young Ollestad could not imagine being able to provide once-upon-a-time.

"They're just so happy they're being remembered," she said.