Bringing Hope at Christmas

INNISFAIL – Two Grade 8 students at St. Marguerite Bourgeoys Catholic School are turning a class project into reality this Christmas.

In doing so, Brooke Stout and Jayda Telford are helping hundreds of women and children in need at the Central Alberta Women's Emergency Shelter (CAWES) in Red Deer.

“The class project is called Bringing Hope at Christmas,” said Tyson Roth, Grade 8 teacher. “The intent is for students to (choose) an organization or a group of people that needs help at Christmastime and come up with ideas of what they can do to help.”

For most students, the class project was hypothetical, but Stout and Telford decided to get into action.

“These two young ladies decided to make theirs a real project,” added Roth. “They're doing it for the project requirements, but they've also gone the extra step, teaming up with the Innisfail hospital to help the women's shelter.”

The two girls wanted a project where they could help brighten someone's Christmas.

“We thought of the women's shelter and then decided to just actually do it,” said Stout.

In addition to collecting donated items such as clothing and toiletries with help from the Innisfail Health Centre, the school's student council also held a recent bake sale to help raise funds for CAWES.

They raised $200 from the bake sale, said Telford, noting the project finished on Dec. 11.

“We had the bake sale (last) Tuesday. We're taking the money and buying gift cards for the women and children at the women's shelter,” said Telford, noting the two girls made donation bins to collect items. “So far we have over 400 donations.”

“At the end of every day the girls checked every donation bin and collected it all,” said Roth.

Both Stout and Telford said it was great to see strong support from the school, the hospital and the community.

“It's nice that people actually care about that kind of stuff,” said Stout, adding it feels good to give back. “I just hope that women and children can get back to having a good life again.”

The class project helped Stout and Telford learn about real-life issues and how they can help.

“I think it's good because I think it will motivate a lot of the students in the future to take on social justice,” said Roth. “It helps them explore their own individuality and show that every person can make a difference.”