AMY SZPARA

PHOTO 1: Children from Church of Christ on Airline Highway in LaPlace team up with students from the LaPlace Oakes Housing Development who attend Church of God in Christ to wash cars and earn money for school supplies. Bobby Lawson, minister of Church of Christ, briefs part of the group on the day’s activities. (Staff Photo by Amy Szpara) LAPLACE – School supplies can be expensive, but several LaPlace students came up with a way to raise their own money to pay for the required tools for learning. By putting themselves to work on a Saturday morning, they scrubbed, rinsed and towel-dried cars, vans and busses to earn the cash needed to purchase the supplies. According to Trupania Swi-lley, who organized the event, he wanted the kids to learn how to make their own mo-ney for the things they need. A member of Church of God in Christ in LaPlace, he joined forces with another church, Church of Christ, also in LaPlace, to set up the event. “We are all coming together to show children how to work, how to get into the work world,” said Swilley. PHOTO 2: D’anthoney Smith, 9, of LaPlace, scrubs the top of a van to raise money for school supplies. (Staff Photo by Amy Szpara) The children and teens who were raising the money live in the LaPlace Oakes Hous-ing Development, along with Swilley, who said that teaching the kids a strong work ethic to counter the effects of the sights they see daily in the housing development is important. With help from the St. John Housing Authority, the LaPlace Oakes Residence Council and Church of Christ Minister Bobby Lawson and children who attend the church, the students started washing cars around 10 a.m. Saturday. “Right now our kids have seen so much, the drugs and all,” said Swilley. “Church of Christ came together with us to make a stronger force. We’re together trying to do the same thing.” “We’ve been going and visiting residents in the LaPlace Oakes area. Washing cars out there is out of the way, and we’re here on Airline, so we invited them here,” added Lawson. “I think it’s neat that the kids took the initiative to raise money for school supplies.” The children at Lawson’s church volunteered their time helping the others wash cars as a form of ministry. They did not keep any money. “We’re making friends and seeking Christ,” said Lawson. There was a total of about 12 to 15 children in front of Church of Christ washing cars, and two of those at a time stood near the highway holding up signs announcing the car wash. For $5 a car, $8 a family van, $15 a large van and $25 a bus inside and out, customers left with their vehicles gleaming. Aside from washing cars together, the two groups of children also enjoyed a cookout and games afterward. Swilley has even bigger plans for the kids in the La-Place Oakes area, though. He wants to take some of the money they have been raising washing cars, as Saturday was not their first time providing the service, to open up a sweet shop in the community. “It’s so they can start their own business,” he said. Swilley added there are several good cooks who live in the housing development, and he would also like them to come together to open a rest-aurant. “It would be an entrepreneurship, a branching out. Right now we have so many adults and so many kids who have low self esteem,” he said. Swilley’s wife, Paula Swil-ley, served as cashier at Saturday’s car wash. “We really want to get the school supplies to keep them from having an excuse not to go to school,” she said. According to Trupania Swilley, he is tired of seeing 13- and 14-year-olds drop out of school, become drug dealers and later become users. He plans to target truancy officers to get them more involved with the students in the development. “We’re trying to get everyone involved. The police, the fire department, other churches, anyone who wants to join in with us,” he said.