Making a difference
School clubs raise money for charity
With all the bad headlines recently regarding incidents at Memorial, it can be easy to forget that for every student creating disruptions, there are many more working to give back to their school and community.
Trust me, we hated the evacuations as much as anybody; it’s no fun standing in the cold without a jacket!
So, in this column, we’re going to focus on the good deeds that students have been doing, rather than the bad ones. Just one example is the Interact club.
The Interact club is a Rotarysponsored community service club where students organize various fundraisers throughout the year and volunteer their time in the community.
Each year, the club organizes two year-long fundraisers for one local and one international charity. The two charities are selected with a vote among members during a meeting. This year, the money is going towards the Hospice Palliative Care Society of Cape Breton and Lumos, a charity that works to end the institutionalization of children around the world created by J.K. Rowling.
Charity fundraisers are not the club’s only focus, however, as they also do volunteer work in their own community. Since the beginning of the school year, their projects have included pumpkin and poinsettia sales, a guest home visit and assisting with various initiatives such as the Salvation Army Christmas kettles, the school breakfast program and the Coxheath Elementary Christmas fair. That’s quite a lot of things for such a short amount of time.
All these projects separate Interact from other school clubs. For the students, Interact is more than just your average club; it’s a chance to make difference in the lives of others.
Last year, the club raised more than $3,000 for two charities. Of that amount, $1,800 was donated to the Cape Breton Transition House (a homeless shelter for women and children that also provides other services such as counselling) and $1,200 was donated to Camfed (an international charity which focuses on girls’ education in Africa).
Another group that focuses on making change is the WE Schools club. This club is very similar to Interact as they too carry out one local and one global project. One of the differences, though, is that the WE Schools club is a part of WE, an organization that encourages people of all ages to get involved.
You might’ve noticed the WE Schools club back on December 2 in the North Sydney Christmas parade. They entered a float along with student council to collect used winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves. There has also been a drop off box in the school lobby for the last several weeks for donations. All the winter clothing collected was donated to families in need this holiday season. After all, it’s the season for giving. It feels better to give than to receive.
Some upcoming events for the next month:
• December 21 is the last day of school before winter break.
• Students return to school on January 3.
• Headstrong is a newly formed group working to end the stigma around mental health and they meet on Fridays at lunch.
• The first day back will be day A.
Happy holidays!