Give a cluster of students $25 each, and see kindness delivered to the tune of nearly $18,500, and more.
That’s what happened at St. Anne’s Catholic School in Blenheim.
Jilian Watterworth, a Grade 8 teacher at the school, said it was part of a Kingdom assignment, a Lenten mission for 45 Grade 8 students.
“When I became a Grade 8 teacher, I decided to take it on,” she said. “Kids are supposed to use the things they’re good at to try to give back.”
And give back they did, raising $18,478 in the process.
It began for the 45 students on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and concluded on Easter weekend, April 18-20.
“They only have about 40 days to start and finish their mission,” Watterworth said.
The diversity of fundraisers the students came up with impressed Watterworth. From a personal fundraising walk, to woodworking projects, to selling baked goods and other food preparation, they delivered.
“It was pretty awesome,” Watterworth said. “A lot of kids do something that they’re interested in.
One student, Zander Foulis, who has an older relative with Parkinson’s Disease, decided to walk from Blenheim to Rondeau in the family member’s honour, raising $3,700 in the process.
“The walk was a pretty big undertaking. He had family members meet him at different points to walk with him,” she said.
Hannah Mercer created a heart wall. The former pediatric cardiac unit patient in London decided to raise money to give back by creating the wall.
“The money raised went towards fun little gifts like stickers and bubbles to cheer up kids during their visits,” Watterworth said.
In total, Mercer raised $2,295.
Two girls – Sawyer Schaafsma and Lily Jack – organized and ran a dodgeball tournament. Watterworth said they had more than 40 participants take part and the event raised $1,370 for Chatham-Kent Hospice.
“They did the whole thing themselves as 13 year olds,” she said. “Planning an event was pretty huge.”
Lila Cooper sold homemade cookies, raising $770 to donate to the JoLynn Deprez Athletic fund.
Liam Irving and Anthony Thompson made $1,780 in donations and profits from selling homemade gluten-free baked goods and donated their funds to Charlotte’s Freedom Farm.
Watterworth said one participant, Ayden Osborne Castonguay, took it upon himself to help others inside his own school.
“He went out and brought groceries and prepared lunches for several days to provide lunches for other students here,” she said. “Some students at our school don’t always have a lunch, so he took on that mission.”
The teacher said several students used acts of kindness, including handing out gift cards to people in need.
Overall, Watterworth said she was floored by the effort.
“Just a lot of cool things. It is pretty amazing every time in terms of what they can come up with,” she said.
The Kingdom Assignment is designed to be a meaningful project that empowers youth to use their gifts to make a difference in their community.
Mission accomplished at St. Anne’s.
