A group of Prince Albert students looking to help community members in need were more successful than they could have imagined.
Students from École Vickers spent their Saturday afternoon staffing the entrance booth at the Prep for Valentines Trade Show, an event two students organized to raise money for the Salvation Army. The event is one of several ones the students have organized for local and national community groups following a suggestion from one of their teachers.
“Our teacher told us, ‘do something we’re passionate for,’” Grade 7 student and co-organizer Paige Rolles explained. “We said, ‘okay, what should we do?’ We decided that we’re going to do something that can actually help people and show that kids can do stuff too.”
The students started with smaller goals closer to home and eventually expanded their efforts. Their first project involved organized a schoolyard cleanup for students in Grades 1 and 7. Afterwards, they started a lunch hour raffle, which raised $525 for the Canadian Cancer Society.
With those two projects under their belts, the students decided to go big and organize a trade show in the school gym, with 100 per cent of the proceeds going to the Salvation Army.
So why a trade show?
“Actually, my mom takes me to trade shows a lot,” Rolles chuckled.
“I’ve heard a lot about trade shows,” added Grade 7 student Tyrone Yaremko, the other co-organizer. “I did one with scouts recently, so I thought it would be a good idea.”
Both students said they admired the Salvation Army for its work in the community, especially its hamper and toy drives around Christmas time. The goal was to raise at least $200 for the organization. By the end of the afternoon, they’d raised $700. Not bad for one afternoon.
“We’ve got enough (support) that we didn’t lose a cent ourselves,” Rolles said during a break in the action on Saturday. “We’ve raised money already, and we’re just hoping for a great outcome.”
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the students attended St. Francis School. The article has been updated to reflect that they attend École Vickers. The Daily Herald apologizes for the error.
