The holiday season is upon us and the tradition of giving is well underway at the school.
Gooderham East made their largest donation to date to Operation Christmas Child with 214 Christmas shoeboxes being collected by the girls as well as cash donations. The boxes filled with toys, books, hygiene and school supplies, will be given to a child in a Third World country as a present at Christmas.
The girls from Gooderham West are raising money through a number of initiatives to support the work of the Red Roof Retreat, which offers assistance to families with disabled children. A grub day, gingerbread house raffles and a Valentines bake sale in February will support the cause and in May, the G-West girls will go to the Red Roof farm to volunteer their time.
Merritt North continued their tradition of serving a hot meal near Christmas time to those in need in the basement of Knox Presbyterian Church. The Boys paid for the pasta dinner out of their House fund and also ran a Tuck Shop during the Musical to help offset the costs. Students set up the hall, prepped and served the dinner, and cleaned up. MNO also sold toques for ‘Raising the Roof’ at the Christmas Market. ‘Raising the Roof’ is a non-profit organization that raises money to help youth that are homeless.
Arthur Bishop West continues to support “Shave to Save” with 10 heads shaved at the Christmas Market raising over $100. On December 1st they will be holding grub day with proceeds from that and the market going to support ‘Mainstream.’ ‘Mainstream’ provides support and services to people with developmental disabilities.
Arthur Bishop East raised money and awareness for their house charity ‘Wells of Hope’ at the Christmas Market. ‘Wells of Hope’ helps people in Third World countries attain clean water, education, and basic healthcare for themselves.
Mandeville and Leonard’s House charity is ‘Free the Children’. The girls are working to raise funds to build a school in Kenya. They sold jewelry for ‘Free the Children’ at the Christmas Market and some of the girls recently took a 24 hr. vow of silence to raise awareness for the organization. They also collected nonperishable food for ‘Halloween for Hunger’ in October.
Deans House supports The Gift of Reading – a local charity that raises money to buy books for children, families, and institutions in need of these valuable resources.
Merritt South supports The OI Foundation, which brings awareness to the public about Osteogenesis Imperfecta. OI is a genetic disorder characterized by fragile bones that break easily. It is also known as “brittle bone disease.” This charity is close to Housemaster, Mr. Amyote because both Mrs. Amyote and their son, James, are afflicted with OI. Funds were raised for the OI Foundation through the Christmas Market.