Village schools aiding Haiti relief efforts
Posted Feb 12, 2010 By Charelle Evelyn
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Tweet ThisEMC News Financial support for relief efforts in Haiti have been pouring in since the Jan. 12 earthquake and many local schools are making sure they are doing their part.
Village schools and their respective communities have come together to raise more than $8,000 between the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) and the Ottawa Catholic District School Board.
Ongoing collections have allowed Manotick Public School to raise almost $2,200 as of press time. "We still have money coming in," said Erin Linnen, Manotick Public School principal.
Along with student-planned donation opportunities, such as when students were invited to bring their favourite stuffed animal to school along with a donation, there are also parent-driven activities.
The school held a movie night Feb. 5 and will be hosting a hockey night and open skate at the arena in March.
"The kids are proud of what they are doing for a good cause," noted Mrs. Linnen.
At Rideau Valley Middle School in Kars, one bake sale yielded more than $500 and the student-council organized Jar Walk like a cake walk is also expected to be a popular event.
"There's always a good turnout, especially when there's something we're fundraising for," said Donna Pantalone, part-time office administrator at the middle school.
In the week immediately following the disaster in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, Osgoode Public School launched their Change for Change campaign and encouraged students to bring in spare change from home. By the end of the week, students had collected over 42 kilograms of coins, which totaled more than $1,100.
The students at Greely Elementary School also came up with the idea to hold a coin drive, called Hundreds for Haiti. They set a goal to raise $500 and ended up with closer to $700 after four days of collecting.
"It's neat to see the way the kids got involved," said teacher Darren White, adding that students were involved in making posters and announcements to promote the campaign.
The idea of service on an international level is something that appears to have struck a chord with many students, observed Mr. White. "We're going to try to organize one small thing every month to keep the idea of service fresh with the kids," he added.
The Greely school has chosen to send its money as an individual donation to UNICEF Canada.
Mr. White said students chose the charity because of its focus on children. The UNICEF website will also allow the students to see what sort of impact their donation will make. For example, a $500 donation will provide 16 emergency first aid kits, according to the charity's website.
Other schools are placing their donations through the OCDSB to the Canadian Red Cross. The federal government will match all donations made to the Red Cross.
St. Catherine School in Metcalfe will be tying their Haiti fundraising to their Lent project, said Principal Donald Kearnan.
Students at St. Leonard School in Manotick have brought in more than $4,100. The majority of the funds came from a one-day event where students were allowed to chew gum and wear a hat with a donation.
"We have a phenomenal school here," said Terri Kelly, office administrator at St. Leonard. "It's a very giving community."
Money raised at St. Leonard is going to the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace.
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