Over the past month, the St. Joseph School Student Council held a charity drive to benefit the Webster-Dudley Food Share. In an ordinary year, St. Joseph School 7th and 8th Grade students volunteer monthly at the Food Share, helping distribute food, clean tables, and much more. However, due to Covid-19, such efforts were unfeasible. Therefore, the Student Council wanted to find a way for the 7th and 8th Grade students to continue their support but also wanted to include the entire school.
After months of hard work developing a proposal to keep all students safe and socially distanced and outlining the logistics to the school administration, the Student Council implemented its plan. Every classroom would have a “charity jug,” a small water bottle with each classroom’s grade printed in fun lettering. If a student brought in money, they would drop their spare change and dollar bills into the bottle. The students would have exactly one month to raise as much money as possible. As an incentive, the three classes that collected the most money earned a dress-down day, and the top class would receive lollipops. So, starting March 1st, the SJS Student Council handed out the bottles. After one month, they collected the bottles, and the results were astounding. When the fundraising initiative was first discussed in November, the original goal was $250. However, the St. Joseph School student body managed to raise over $1,100. The top class was the 5th Grade, with $800 in donations, followed by Grades 3 and 8.
On Thursday, April 29th, Student Council President Samantha Keller, Vice President Dale Boudreau, 8th Grade Class Representative Maya Podskarbi, and Student Council Faculty Advisor Mrs. Mary Ann Weaver presented a $1,148.35 to A.J. Alkire, Manager of the Webster-Dudley Food Share. While receiving the check, Mr. Alkire told the students that he hopes the Bread for Life Kitchen will be back up and running soon. Meanwhile, he noted that they are still distributing fruits and vegetables and have also given out over 30,000 masks. He also stressed to the students that “everyone needs help, and everyone needs to help.”
