Socks for Christmas?
Typically not a crowd pleaser but after the Sock it to ‘em campaign hosted by Banded Peak School in Bragg Creek, 12 full boxes of socks and other necessities were donated to the Mustard Seed in Calgary on Monday.
“It feels good to give back,” said Quinn, 11-year-old student from Banded Peak School.
The campaign kicked off at the earlier this year and ran for a month in the kindergarten to Grade 8 school, asking each grade to collect specific items, from toothbrushes to bus passes to gifts cards to socks.
“Having a student led event was really important to us,” explained Lynn Fischer, Banded Peak School teacher.
The campaign started earlier this fall after one of Fischer’s co-workers told the staff about the initiative to raise items for the non-profit in Calgary.
The vision for the Mustard Seed is to help adults experiencing poverty and homelessness to make sure their basic needs are met while growing hope and supporting people toward sustainable life change and integration into the broader community.
“Our kids drove the whole thing,” Fischer said.
The students said they turned the campaign into a challenge to see how much could be collected per grade class, to make collecting more “fun.”
“It feels like you are caring for them (and) helping give them what they need to succeed,” said Alex, seven-year-old Banded Peak School student.
The students donated all the boxes to the Mustard Seed on Nov. 19 with help from Southland Transportation that donated the vehicle to drop the students off and pick them up. Bus driver Rebecca Larocque also donated her time to the campaign.
“It feels good to give people what they need,” said Kyra, six-year-old Banded Peak School student.
The leadership students also attended a two-hour information session at the Mustard Seed after delivering the items.
The Mustard Seed was planted in Calgary in 1984 when the founder started the non-profit Christian-based organization downtown. It grew to the organization it is today that provides basic services, personal assistance centre, community support services, housing and spiritual care.
For more information go to theseed.ca
