Nearly 30 Penn State students are scouring State College for monetary and material donations to benefit the Navajo Nation -- the home to a people whose average per capita income is $4,106, compared with the national average of about $37,000.

The students, who are enrolled in Communication Arts and Sciences 250 (Small Group Communication), are working with the Adopt-A-Native-Elder Program to assist more than 350 Native American children and elders living on reservations in Arizona and southern Utah.

"The project is really important because it helps the Navajo people continue to live their traditional lifestyle," Crystal Howe (sophomore-secondary English education) said. "Everything we are going to be sending to the reservations will help the children and elders survive."

Barbara Toth, the course instructor, began the project last semester after visiting the Southwest and falling in love with the Native American culture.

"[Program organizer Linda Myers] was very supportive of my idea to incorporate the class, but she had never had anyone involved in the way that I was proposing," Toth said. "I started the project in the fall, and the students did very well. They netted about $650, and I expect this semester's class to do just as well, if not better."

The students are split into five groups, each of which focuses on a separate aspect of the project. Kristen Schaubhut (senior-elementary education) said her group is working to secure school supplies to send to the Navajo children. "We've been going out to businesses around our home areas and here in State College, which can be difficult because a lot of the stores are really corporate," Schaubhut said. "Plus, the businesses around here have been tapped for so many different projects ... we're lucky to be getting the response that we have from the surrounding area."

Aside from school supplies, the students are soliciting food and kitchen items, clothing, toiletries and toys. The class members cannot use any of their own money to purchase the items.

Ashley Gessner (junior-secondary English education) said soliciting donations is often a challenge.

"That's the hardest part -- you kind of hate hitting up people for money," she said. "Not every place can make a donation, but every place has had a friendly response."

At the end of the semester, Toth will drive to the Southwest and deliver as many of the donations as she can fit in her truck and ship the remainder. "Part of the Navajo tradition is the Giveaway Circle, where you really give from the heart," Toth said. "All of the items I bring will be placed in this circle. It's just a nice feeling ... some of these elders are over 100 years old, and they're really sweet and so appreciative."

Gessner said participating in the project has been a valuable learning tool.

"Part of the small-group learning experience is that you're always going to have some successes and some failures," she said. "But in this case, there is a driving force behind what we're doing because when we succeed, we're actually making an impact."

Lisa-Marie DiRusso (senior-communication arts and sciences) said she appreciates the opportunity to both learn and take action. "The project is really important because at Penn State; we are all really privileged," she said.

Toth said she is pleased with the project's success so far and hopes to continue it next semester. "When you give students free rein to exercise their free will and creativity, what they can do is just amazing," she said.

As part of their fundraising efforts, the students will hold a $5 all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner from 5 to 8 p.m. April 24 at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 208 W. Foster Ave.