GULF BREEZE, Fla. (WKRG) — For the 10th straight year, fifth-graders in Donna Godfrey’s class at Oriole Beach Elementary School have been making scarves for the homeless this school year.

Godfrey teaches the children to crochet, and they make the scarves themselves.

On Saturday, they will drop off 75 or more scarves to Loaves and Fishes Soup Kitchen, where they will be distributed to the homeless to keep warm this winter.

“I decided that we need to, as children and just people in our society, know how to give back and how things are much greater than ourselves,” Godfrey said. “In today’s day and age, we tend to be very self-centered and self-driven. So I decided that we wanted to do something to show that you don’t have to have a lot of money or a prestigious position. Anybody can make a difference.”

Godfrey said the students learned how to crotchet at the beginning of the school year, and some of them were challenged. But all have made scarves and many have made several.

Samuel Patrick, a 5th grader in Godrey’s class said it’s rewarding knowing he will make a difference.

“We know when it’s Christmas time it’s always really cold. We’re just giving back to our community,” Patrick said. “It makes really good. It makes feel great that I’m giving back to the people who need it most.”

Erin Ortiz, also in the class, told News 5 she was looking forward to donating her scarves.

“It makes me feel happy because I made something for them and I made their day,” Ortiz said.

Godfrey said her previous students have reached out her and said they’re still making scarves, using the lessons she taught them in the 5th grade: “Be somebody who makes everybody feel special.”

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