Sharing the spirit of giving

Children help warm little hands with art and mittens Hardyston — “Teaching children the spirit of giving during the holiday season begins their lifelong journey of having compassion for others,” said Lisa Mills, of Great Beginnings Children’s Learning Center. That’s why they launched Happy Hands — Warm Hearts, a schoolwide program that benefits local children in need. It begins at home, where Great Beginnings students decorating a pair of paper mittens. Then, they bring those back to school with a new pair of children’s mittens or gloves. Both sets are attached to a clothesline hanging in the school’s main hallway. With the help of the Mustard Seed Street Ministry and the Vernon Township Woman’s Club, the mittens are being distributed to needy children in the area. “Through the generosity of the school’s families, dozens of children have already received a warm pair of mittens just in time for winter,” Mills said. The program will run through Dec. 31. Anyone who wants to support it can bring mittens or gloves to Great Beginnings at 3501 Route 94 in Hardyston.