Most of us see homeless people and are unsure how to help them.

But earlier this year in Room 9 at the Franklin Elementary School in Santa Barbara, the 3rd and 4th grade students of teacher Leon Lewandowski found a very effective way to help.

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They created “Sacks of Hope,” and ran a schoolwide drive to fill those sacks with bottled water, food, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other necessities to give to the homeless.

Each student also wrote a handwritten letter to corporations asking them to donate.

And corporations responded to their letters. For example:

Little Jorge, a 3rd grader, wrote a letter to the Coleman Company requesting sleeping bags. Soon a large bundle of sleeping bags arrived at the school.

25 homeless people “received three sacks,” said Leon. “One filled with outdoor survival items, another with food items, and the final with toiletries.”

“These were distributed [to the homeless] by the Central Coast Collaborative on Homelessness (CCCH) (http://c3hsantabarbara.org/),” added Leon.

As a result of its success, Sacks of Hope has now spread to at least two more California schools and hopefully this great concept will continue to spread.

And what a valuable lifetime lesson in kindness for the students, one of the most valuable lessons any school will ever teach.

“We can all make a huge difference,” said Leon. “It’s just we have to kinda go out and do it.”

To see Leon and the kids, and CCCH in action in a heartwarming 4-minute, 33-second video, click here.

Editor's Note: To visit the Sacks of Hope website, click here. To learn more from a compelling email Leon sent to me, click here.

In the next KazanToday: A medical student who learned a valuable lesson from an unexpected source.