WAMS Class Donates Money to Cooper NICU

Melvin Shepherd is the living, breathing embodiment of what Michael Berner at .

A week before his seventh birthday, Melvin’s father told his son how the doctors and nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Cooper University Hospital saved his life when he was born prematurely.

A week later, his $32 of birthday money burning a hole in his pocket, Melvin resisted the urge to splurge on toys or video games and chose to donate the money to the NICU instead.

“I don’t want anyone to have to go through that,” he said.

Every year since, Melvin has collected pennies (and other cash donations) and donated them to the NICU at Cooper. Gary Stahl, head of the neonatology division, figures Melvin’s donated close to $1,500 the last seven years. The money helps pay for rocking chairs and blankets and other accessories to make the infants and their mothers as comfortable as possible, Stahl said.

This trimester, when Berner’s 21st Century Challenges class—which focuses on topics like ethics and philosophy—went about selecting a local charity to raise money for, Melvin pitched them on the NICU. Other students presented different charities for the class to choose from.

“Everybody quickly figured out that Melvin’s charity is Melvin,” said Berner. “When the voting came, it was a landslide.”

Though Mevin shared his story with his own class, the students in Berner’s other Challenges classes initially didn’t realize Melvin’s personal connection to the NICU. Once they did, Berner said, the donations poured in. In the first 15 days, his students dropped about $270 in change in a big can placed by the classroom door. In the final five collection days—after word of Melvin’s story spread—they raised about $200.

The students presented a check for $487 to Stahl on Friday. Stahl was impressed by the students’ efforts.

“This generation has the reputation for being self-centered,” he said. “This speaks volumes that, given the opportunity and the right kind of mentorship, the opposite is true.”

Stahl offered to arrange for the students to visit the NICU so they can see what their money was going toward.

Berner had his students write down their reflections on the donation project, asking them why they felt it was important to give back.

Natalie Stevens, 13, wrote: “As humans, it’s our job to give back. We take and take and take but never give back as much as we should. If we gave back half as much as we take, the world would be such a good place.”

Students were also asked why they supported Melvin’s cause specifically, with many of them citing their friendship with Melvin as their main motivation.

“Melvin isn’t just some random person,” wrote Rachel Bauman, 13. “We chose his cause not just because it seemed worthy of it, but because he is our fellow student, a friend.”

As for his own reflections, Berner said he was extremely proud of his students because their donation was the practical application of everything he tries to teach in class.

“It’s all well and good to talk about what it means to be a good person, and to have a personal philosophy. It’s another thing to actually do it,” he said. “You couldn’t ask for a better gift as a teacher. No ‘A’ that the students get in this class is going to mean more than what they did today.”