In trying to eliminate bullying, Apex Elementary School is doing more than just showing students the negative consequences of bad behavior. Educators are also working hard to teach children the many positive effects that result from behaving well.

As part of the process students have been participating in a program that has benefited the Western Wake Crisis Ministry.

Since the beginning of the school year students have been donating boxes of cereal for the non-profit organization. Two bins of boxes collected on Friday pushed the school over the 1,000-pound donation mark.

Guidance counselor Linda Gaskins said the project arose from the school’s anti-bullying mantra of “Do things for each other, not to each other.”

“Are you doing something to somebody or are you doing something for somebody?” said Gaskins. “The kids need to remember every day to do something for somebody. Out of that came the idea to do something for our community.”

Helping the crisis ministry was an easy decision for Gaskins. She has sent many families in need to the ministry for help.

“The Western Wake Crisis Ministry is such a resource for me here at school if I have a family that is struggling,” said Gaskins. “With this economy the past two years we have families that have never been without jobs that are suddenly forced to decide if they should pay their rent or buy food. I can tell them about Western Wake and there’s not a lot of red tape when you need to get help there.

“I can send a family or a single mom over there and know they are going to be taken care of. So I felt that was a good place for the kids to give back.”

Collecting cereal also seemed logical since most children are very familiar with it.

“Cereal is something the kids can connect to,” said Gaskins. “They like cereal and they eat cereal and it can make a meal for a family sometimes. So each month we have collected from a different grade level.

“This week, these final two bins, will put us over the thousand pound mark. Cereal doesn’t weigh a lot so that is a lot of cereal. The kids are so excited about this.”

Despite their young age, Gaskins said the students understand how they are helping other families in need. “Part of their (anti-bullying) lesson is talking about empathy,” said Gaskins. “So we talked what it would be like if they woke up and there was nothing in their kitchen to eat. Even little kids can understand that.” But some of the kids were too young to realize that only new boxes of cereal could be donated.

“I learned quickly that you need to be very specific,” said Gaskins. “I had to tell them to bring in a box of unopened, uneaten cereal. Every single week we had someone bringing in their cereal from the breakfast table because they wanted to contribute. We had a lot of already half-eaten boxes that I’m sure their mothers were looking for at home.”