Since 2008, students at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland have been collecting postage stamps. Why? They want to collect 6 million stamps.
For many people, the concept of 6 million of anything is hard to grasp. When an English teacher at Mt. Hebron was trying to help her students understand the immensity of the Holocaust while they were reading Elie Wiesel’s “Night”, she remembered The Paper Clips Project. Middle school students in Whitwell, TN created a monument for the Holocaust victims of Nazi Germany. The project started in 1998 as an 8th grade project to study other cultures. It then evolved into one gaining worldwide attention.
The Mt. Hebron teacher thought her students could do the same with postage stamps. Everyone receives mail and could easily tear off the used stamps to bring to school. Plus, many stamps have faces on them – what better way to represent the 6 million Jewish people who perished in the Holocaust!
Six million is an enormous number! After almost eleven years, the school has collected over 4 million stamps. Many community groups are supporting the school’s efforts and now BNC – Baltimore Chapter is joining this campaign.
We ask that you please remove stamps from mail you receive and bring them to any BNC event. Our Live and Learn class facilitators as well as meeting leaders will collect the stamps and give them to Merle Ann Siegelman, the board member who suggested this project. Or, you may mail them directly to her at:
Merle Ann Siegelman
6205 Sareva Drive
Baltimore, MD 21209
Those of you who are stamp collectors might consider donating duplicates to this wonderful project.
At some time in the future, we will arrange to visit Mt. Hebron, present them with our stamps, and view student displays created over the years with the different stamps. Please support this worthy cause so the next generation continues to understand the magnitude of the Holocaust as we all work to reduce hatred in the world.
