The Volunteer Club at Bradford Area High School is going the extra mile this holiday season to make sure local residents have basic necessities most of us take for granted.
For its December project, the group decided to collect donations of items such as nonperishable food, toiletry items, socks, hats, gloves, shampoo and toothpaste to distribute to the six Blessing Boxes located around Bradford and Lewis Run.
The Blessing Boxes were originally constructed and put in place by Amanda Kemick and Stacy Wallace after seeing a need in the community. The items inside are available to those in need, regardless of their situation, with the hope that individuals and organizations who have extra will replenish the supply as needed.
According to Bob Neumann, BAHS Volunteer Club Advisor, the idea for the Blessing Box drive grew from a discussion between him and a fellow co-worker.
“The Learning Center has done it in the past, but they aren’t doing it this year so we thought it would be a good project for the club,” explained Neumann.
Students collected donations schoolwide, even sharing an Amazon wish list the group put together on social media. Items ordered via the wish list were shipped directly to the high school. Neumann said the plan is to distribute the excess of 1,300 items collected to the various Blessing Boxes this week.
The students displayed great enthusiasm for the project and were thankful for an outlet to give back to the community.
“It’s a way to get out in the community, learn about different lifestyles and see the hardships people are facing,” explained club member Karlie Deming. “It makes you more understanding of why we should give.”
Neumann said it was a learning experience.
“Projects like this help students grow the empathy that is crucial to society,” added Neumann.
“I help out a lot — out at the fire halls and other places. I don’t want to be just sitting around doing nothing,” added club member Mackenzie Swanson.
Not only are the projects intrinsically rewarding, club member Brooke McClain said students also find that participating in the group is fun.
The Volunteer Club, currently in its third year, has completed a wide variety of projects from stocking fish to visiting nursing homes. Just this past November, the club helped out at the Friendship Table, while in October it participated in a pheasant release and helped fix a trail at Allegany State Park.
“If any organizations need help, they can reach out to us. We are always open to new ideas,” said Deming.
“We would like to thank the community and all those who donated to us. We had people from all over, even southwestern Pennsylvania,” recalled Neumann. “Some donations came in with a note and others were anonymous.”
One could see how passionate the students really are about community service, as club member Alex Safran could be heard asking Neumann whether he wanted her to contact the YWCA if they have leftover donated items, while another student offered to deliver the items to the boxes sometime this week.
