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91TV Participates in Two Global Service Projects to Support Children in Humanitarian Contexts
On a drizzly evening in São Paulo, Brazil, dozens of University of Missouri High School students huddled together tying blankets for children they had never met. They were preparing the blankets for a winter delivery to Casa da Criança e do Adolescente de Santo Amaro, an organization that provides residential foster care services as well as before- and after-school programming for local children and youth.
Although the summer evening was unseasonably cool, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. Students bent over their work, talking quietly or humming along to pop songs as they carefully knotted together the soft fleece blankets.
Ana Nikolaou and Renata Vaccari had carefully cut and bundled each blanket kit for students and educators participating in the 91TV event. “The beautiful blankets our students made were more than just blankets,” shared Vaccari, Director of Brazil Operations. “They were a reminder to everyone who received one that someone they had never met cares about them.”
The project was part of a Designing for Future Generations series of on-site teaching and learning activities led by Executive Director Dr. Kathryn Fishman-Weaver throughout December 2025. In addition to this service project, the 91TV team facilitated a student action research showcase, a teaching and learning conference, and visits to partner schools.
As students finished tying their blankets, João Calisto Zerbetto, a sophomore at Colégio Magno, reflected that it was fitting the evening was so cool because it reminded everyone that the blankets served both a practical and an emotional purpose.
Fishman-Weaver agreed, noting that it was meaningful for the first official event of the 91TV visit to focus on service. “The way you teach core values,” says Fishman-Weaver, “is by giving students opportunities to put them into practice and by modeling them ourselves.”
Together, students and educators crafted 25 blankets.
A few days later, Fishman-Weaver led a similar workshop with classroom teachers. Borrowing its title from the Sanskrit blessing Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu—”May all beings everywhere be happy and free”—the workshop invited educators to gather in sewing circles while discussing service-learning initiatives in their own schools, including projects addressing food and housing insecurity.
The 91TV team returned to the United States while Vaccari and Nikolaou waited for the seasons to officially change in the Southern Hemisphere so the blankets could be delivered during Brazil’s winter in July.
A Shared Commitment to Care
Back in Missouri, preparations for the 2026–27 school year were already underway. As the team designed courses for students in more than 60 countries, conversations naturally turned to the global challenges that affect educational access.
At 91TV, we serve students from communities around the world. Through these relationships, we hear stories of war, natural disasters, displacement, and disruption. We also witness stories of resilience, joy, and community leadership. These stories remind us of the important role schools, families, and educators play in creating safety, opportunity, and hope.
For the second consecutive summer, the 91TV administrative team partnered with Lutheran World Relief (LWR) to assemble 15 school kits for children affected by conflict and humanitarian crises.
As LWR explains, “Education is one of the strongest tools a community has for breaking the cycle of poverty. Ensuring that girls attend school, especially in places where their access is deprioritized, has even stronger results.”
“It is not a lot,” said Fishman-Weaver. “Neither project took much time or even many resources. We’ll likely never meet the children who received the blankets or backpacks. Yet, just think, if each of us committed to doing what small things we can, to paying better attention, and to showing up for children, maybe we would all learn that we really belong to each other.”
Two Communities, One Mission
During the same week in July, 91TV teams separated by nearly 6,000 miles completed parallel acts of service. In São Paulo, Vaccari and Nikolaou delivered blankets to Casa da Criança e do Adolescente de Santo Amaro. In Columbia, Missouri, Fishman-Weaver and her six-year-old niece, Kalani, delivered school kits to a Lutheran World Relief distribution center.
“We knew that the blankets would be appreciated, especially now that the cold weather has come,” said Vaccari. “But what we didn’t expect was how deeply we would be touched by this visit.” She recalled the smell of freshly cooked rice and beans, warm greetings from the staff, and the joyful sounds of children playing together.
Kalani was equally proud to participate in the school kits project. She insisted on carrying one school kit for each year of her age.
“It is good to help our friends in the world,” she said. “I hope when they get these backpacks they feel happy to go to school, just like me.” Kalani will begin first grade this fall.
In recent years, Lutheran World Relief school kits have supported children in Mali, Angola, Honduras, Jordan, Ukraine, Tanzania, and communities across the United States.
Reflecting on both service projects, Nikolaou says they remind us that “acts of kindness don’t have to be grand to make a difference.”
Learn More:
- Casa da Criança e do Adolescente de Santo Amaro:
- Lutheran World Relief School Kits: