We've:
collected coins for united way/american red cross/other charitable things
collected winter clothing for shelters
collected books for shelters/orphanages
collected school supplies/books for students at a local school that burned down
written letters to verteran hospitals and nursing homes
collected canned food for the food bank
put together care packages for the military in iraq and afghanistan
as you can see, the military is a huge part of the area in which I live. Every child is either in a military family of probably has a neighbor who is military so we try to make it meaningful for the students. When the tsunami hit, we did a funds drive. The same thing happened when Katrina hit. It's amazing though how the ideas for the drives came from the students! After a current events lesson in her class, a second grade student wrote a letter to the principal asking her if we could do a spare change drive for the tsunami victims. So basically maybe letting the students help select a project will make it even more meaningful for them. Good luck!
