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Saege Bramley and Sam Yuen collected over 30 bags of clothing and 100 PPE items

By Gagandeep Ghuman, North Shore Daily Post.

For Seycove Secondary students Sam Yuen and Saege Bramley, the inspiration to do something for vulnerable youth came from their social justice class.

It was in this class that they learnt about the stigma attached to mental health, especially among youth.

The duo wanted to put classroom ideas into helpful practice in the community.

“We wanted to help spread awareness in our community about this topic,” says Bramley.

The Grade 11 students started a clothing drive in Deep Cove and collected PPE supplies that they have donated to local youth centres in Vancouver.

They collected more than 30 bags of clothing and 100 separate PPE items.

Yuen says they decided that if they focused their project on mental health it would be beneficial for them and the community, especially the youth who are struggling during COVID-19.

“No one should feel scared and unprepared to walk down the street or go to the store during the pandemic, which is why we focused on supporting youth struggling with poverty,” she says.

They say the project was a success with lots of youths benefitting from it.

“We also benefited from this project as well because we got to meet lots of different people and learn a lot about this topic which helped us understand the importance of it,” Bramley says.

Bramley and Yuen have also now renewed Seycove School’s Mental Health Club. Now they plan to put up posters around the campus and host various events related to mental health.