If you ask what some École Dorothy Lynas Elementary students wanted on their wish list this year, you might be surprised to hear that they were hoping to give rather than receive.
The kids in the North Vancouver school's Grade 5/6 split class spent the last couple of months on a project aimed at helping other local children in need, an effort that wrapped up Friday when they delivered 10 gift boxes to the North Shore Youth Safe House.
The gift boxes contained essential items like pyjamas, toques, toiletries, canned food and gift cards. The students collected more than $5,000 worth of goods for other youth.
Starting the project just after Halloween, the students wrote donation letters to businesses and raised money within their families. They embraced the spirit of Santa's workshop by organizing, sorting, and wrapping the gift boxes.
Grade 5 student Liam Stone took on the challenge of raising $450 to buy a Nintendo Switch for youth at the safe house. Stone and his brother saved their $125 allowance for the year to donate towards the North Shore Youth Safe House, with their grandparents pitching in the rest.
He wanted to buy them the console to pass on the same excitement he felt when he received a Nintendo Switch for Christmas a few years ago.
“I just wanted them to have a Merry Christmas and have fun,” he said. “I’m happy for them to have the Nintendo so they could play together.”
Stone also bought two games to go along with the console – EA Sports FC 26 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
This marks the fourth year the school has participated, said Marta Orellana, École Dorothy Lynas Elementary French immersion Grade 5/6 teacher.
Orellana noted that many businesses and organizations, both familiar and new, supported the initiative this year. Examples include KITS, which donated sunglasses; Mt Seymour, which provided passes; and the Parkgate Knitting Club, which made toques for every teen at the safe house, among others.
“This project really shows what it’s like when a whole community rallies around our youth,” Orellana said. “For the students, it’s not just a donation drive, it’s a real experience for them in empathy and civic responsibility. It’s so much more than just collecting items.”
Steve Kirkby, the youth services director for the Hollyburn Community Services Society, said that seeing the donations every year reaffirms the kindness and good in the community.
Kirkby, who picks up the donations from the school every year, is always impressed by the amount the students collect.
“It’s a highlight for me of the Christmas holidays, just seeing the kids’ faces and seeing the excitement that they have about doing what they’ve done,” Kirkby said.
The donations help provide in-need youth with basic necessities, but also get them back on their feet, connecting them to resources to gain independence or return back home. Kirkby said the console will be a surprise on Christmas morning.
“It’s very heartwarming and inspiring,” Kirkby said about the donations. “When it comes from a young person, it seems to just resonate a little more…. One act of kindness on top of another, it just helps get people through some tough patches.”
