The students who attend the Gryphon Community Room (learner support and life-skills) at Smithers Secondary School (SSS) have been on a year-long mission to give back to the community, and have done so in a big way.
For project Give Back, the students made more than 50 freezer meals for the Passage Transition House residents and other community members, hot lunches and sandwiches for the Salvation Army food truck throughout the year and individual homemade Christmas stockings for each resident of Goodacre House and filled them with beautiful new gifts.
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While doing these projects during the year, they were working toward the larger goal of providing items for families who will move out of the Passage House into new homes.
The Fresh Start baskets they created contain more than $200 worth of items from cleaners to pans to condiments and many more items families would need in their first-time homes.
Over the year, the students have been learning the importance of taking care of each other and their community and working with local businesses to fundraise for their Give Back projects.
For each business that donated items, the students then made handmade thank you cards and cupcakes and hand-delivered them.
The fundraisers the class held will make it possible for ten families to receive a Fresh Start basket.
“The business community has been a tremendous support and the students have had such a wonderful time this year working with the businesses and the community,” teacher Kristina Willing said.
“What started out as an idea to teach the students about giving in their community, became many projects of love the kids truly enjoyed doing and surpassed all of our expectations.”
The students recently brought all of the baskets to the Passage House, and the first two families moving have already received their baskets.
“I’m very proud of the students and their accomplishments and also could not have made any of this happen without the help of my co-worker, teacher Jenny Beaton,” Willing said. “We all worked together to make the amazing happen.”
deb.meissner@interior-news.com
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