WINSLOW -- Sometime over the holidays, 22 Peruvian children, all suffering from cancer, will receive handmade Christmas cards and care packages from a class of fifth-graders here.

The delivery comes as the culmination of a months-long project of Kelly Marston's students at Winslow Elementary School. Marston's classes seek to teach students the value of doing community work and helping other people.

A portion of the class involves the fifth-graders helping to mentor kindergartners by pairing off with the younger students and helping to teach them to read. The Peru connection came in with a Colby College student volunteer named Katie Nealon, whose father works in the U.S. embassy in Lima.

Nealon said the project's success was a happy surprise.

"I couldn't be happier with how it has progressed," Nealon wrote in an e-mail. "Her students' genuine interest in the organization, kids and Peru in general blew me away.

"More than anything, I hope to have shown the students how much power to change they already possess in their hands, and how much a difference a few determined minds can do."

Nealon said the children in Peru who are receiving the packages live at Aldimi, a non-profit home for young people who are battling cancer. They all come from extremely impoverished families who struggle to pay for their treatment. The non-profit relies on donations to try to help the families pay for treatment, but funds are very limited, Nealon said.

Students at Winslow said they have learned a lot this year.

"I think it's pretty cool that we are sending gifts to kids who don't have money to buy stuff," 11-year-old Dylan Jones said. "The things we are sending are things we have every day, but they can't just go to the store and buy them."

"I've learned what it's like to help others," 10-year-old Emily Cates said. "It made me feel like a superhero."

Eleven-year-old Luke Fredette said he was surprised at the community's support in making donations for the packages.

"We know now that there are people who want to help," Fredette said. "All you have to do is ask."

Marston said she was pleased with the project's success.

"I ... want you to think about the magic you've created for 22 children battling cancer and their families," Marston wrote in a letter to her class. "Because of you, they will receive boxes filled with kindness and hope."

She continued, "now that you have discovered how much you can positively impact the world, I wonder how that will influence you as you continue to grow and become a leader within a community. Remember to leave your fingerprints all over the world."

Joel Elliott -- 861-9252

jelliott@centralmaine.com