GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — You can tell from their "Westside GR" sweatshirts how proud Michele Coyne and Rea Bunce are of their neighborhood. And if the apparel isn't enough to convince you, they'll be happy to tell you where their local allegiance lies.
"I'm a life long Westsider. I love the Westside. I love the students here," Rae said.
Both women are former employees with Grand Rapids Public Schools. Michele was a teacher first before becoming the principal at Kent Hills Elementary School for 10 years. Rae was an elementary school secretary throughout her entire career.
The school community felt like family for them and they recently thought up a way to give back to that family.
"It was Rae's idea. And she said, what if we energize the neighborhood to put a big hug around Union [High School] and Westwood [Middle School], their teachers, and their students," Michele said.
They started by visiting their neighbors and asking for donations for their projects.
"We really didn't know what to expect, because we're just two older, cute ladies going door-to-door with nothing more than a love for the west side and the love for the students," Rae said with a smile and a laugh.
"We started knocking on doors and it was amazing. People were excited. They were generous."
One of the projects Rae and Michele have used the money for was to throw a pizza party for the Union High School football team.
"We know the Union football team really has struggled over the years, and then they started their season this year with three wins, and everybody's excited about that," Michele said.
Michelle and Rae say they underestimated how much pizza a football team could eat, but the players were grateful and patient while Michele drove around town to get more.
Another project involved providing a spread for Union High School staff members at a staff meeting.
"I kind of gave him the nuts and bolts of the project, and then Rae said we want you to know we see you. We know what your struggle is like. We know what the pandemic has done to teachers and children and I think they really appreciated just having some acknowledgement," Michele said.
Rae and Michele will be doing more projects in the future and they will post about them in the We Are Westsiders community page on Facebook. They also hope their efforts will inspire others to work on similar projects for their schools.
"You can't do everything, but you can do something, even if it's just one thing. Do it," Rae said.
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