St. Albert seniors will have something to smile about this month after area students give them bags of hope and friendship.
Students at École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d’Youville are creating care packages for some 47 people this month in co-operation with Catholic Social Services. The bags are part of a community service project funded by the United Way.
The United Way’s Make Your Mark program offers students grants of up to $1,000 to help them address poverty in their communities, explained ESSMY teacher Louise Shervey. In the past, ESSMY students have used these grants to assist youth shelters and new immigrants. This year, the students decided to focus on seniors.
The result was the SMILES Project, which team member Tristan Javier explained stands for Students Making an Impact Lifting Elders’ Spirits. (The acronym is a reference to the “smile line” wrinkles many seniors possess.) The project aims to help seniors meet their physical and emotional needs through care packages and social outings.
Team member Didi Udom said the packages contain basic necessities such as scarves, gift cards, and other high-demand items flagged by the St. Albert Food Bank.
Udom and Javier said the team challenged each class in the school to fill at least two bags each with donations, with the top fundraisers getting free hot chocolate and treats. The team has donated 30 bags to the St. Albert Food Bank (eight of which came from a single class) and is working on another 47 for Catholic Social Services.
Javier and Udom said food bank staff told the team that there are at least 30 seniors that use the city’s food bank for necessities on a regular basis, and that the rising cost of living had caused some of the bank’s regular donors to become its clients.
Javier said the SMILES team will head to the Youville Home this week to sing, paint nails, and play cards with its residents. The team plans to host a second social night for the Youville seniors at ESSMY later this winter.
“It’s just really gratifying to see (how) your small actions that might seem small to you are life-changing for someone else,” Javier said.
Season of student giving
The SMILES Project is one of the many community service projects underway in GSACRD schools this month, district spokesperson Shanlyn Cunningham said in an email. Bertha Kennedy students have made place-mats for Youville Home residents and planned to deliver them on Dec. 20 in time for Christmas dinner, for example. Students at École Sacré Coeur are collecting food and clothes for Edmonton’s Sifton School, while those at the St. Gabriel Education Centre are gathering clothes and gift cards for the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton. The district as a whole is working to raise $8,000 this month in support of an all-girls orphanage in Uganda.
Questions on these campaigns should go to their respective schools or district office (780-459-7711).
