ABILENE, Texas – For the 18th straight year, Cooper Student Council sponsor Jimmy Pogue loaded up a bus Wednesday morning to take 44 students and sponsors to Chinle, Arizona, for the council’s annual Four Corners Service Learning Project.
The group will return to Abilene on Monday, Jan. 20, after four days of outreach to one of the most economically depressed communities in the country. Pogue and his group annually take a semi-truck trailer full of supplies to the people in Chinle with a typical trip delivering 24 tons of clothes, food, toys, blankets and livestock food.
Over the previous 17 trips to the Navajo Nation, Pogue and his group have delivered 821,000 pounds of clothes and food for the people in Chinle. This year’s group is carrying more than 79,000 pounds of supplies for the people and livestock in the area.
“This opportunity is rooted in kindness, generosity and desire to be part of something noble,” Pogue said before leaving early Wednesday morning.
Not only are the students and staff who make the journey able to experience a part of the country unseen by many, they’re also able to take part in a “cultural exchange” in which they become part of another culture for several days, learning new customs, games and traditions.
In addition, Pogue said, they’ll be initiating a program called “e-pals” in which members of the Cooper student council are paired with a child from Chinle Elementary School in order to help the younger students work on their reading and writing skills through correspondence.
