In-class collections, appeals to parents, and lunchtime sales of everything from freezies to samosas at Burnaby schools in the last month have pulled in more than $15,000 to help earthquake victims in Nepal.
With the federal government pledging to match donations before May 25 dollar for dollar, that means local students will end up helping the quake-ravaged country to the tune of more than $30,000.
Burnaby South Secondary students went above and beyond, raising a total of $10,652.74 in two weeks.
“The whole school came together, the different clubs and councils,” said social studies teacher Sabha Ghani, who helped coordinate the students’ efforts between May 4 and 15. “They sponsored different fundraisers every day at lunch hour; we had in-class collections; we had an appeal out to parents.”
Complicating the efforts was exam week, which limited participation from some senior students, but Ghani said junior students jumped in to fill the gap.
“That was really exciting,” she said.
The school broke its original fundraising goal of $5000 by the end of the first week.
Collecting money for Nepal was the student’s idea, according to Ghani.
“There were students who came up and said they wanted to do something, so we said, ‘OK well, let’s put together a school-wide response and get all the clubs and councils involved.’ It went really well.”
While staff got on board as well, Ghani said it was students’ enthusiasm that carried the fundraiser.
“It was just great to see them so engaged and caring,” she said.
The school presented its $10,652.74 cheque to the Canadian Red Cross on May 21.
Students at other schools – including Forest Grove, Lakeview, Aubrey, Stride, Taylor Park and Sperling elementary schools; and Byrne Creek, Alpha and Burnaby North secondary schools – pitched in to help Nepal as well, with efforts totalling a combined $5,000.
Taylor Park raised $1,000 on freezie sales alone.
