As the academic year was coming to an end, the student lighthouse team at Wall School finished with some positivity.
Staff members and students had an organized coin drive helping to raise funds for those affected in the Three Rivers tornado earlier this year. The service project was one which helped raise some funds for those in need and also positivity.
“Overall, this was a really meaningful community service project for our students. They were motivated to donate their own coins by an overwhelming sense of compassion for the kids in Three Rivers,” Kelli Lamb, a teacher at Wall and one of the organizers of the event, said. “Our own students felt the panic of the tornado sirens while we were dismissing that day, but we were fortunate to have been out of the tornado’s path.”
Lamb said the original goal for the coin drive, which Wall School does annually, was $500. Collectively, officials and students decide what would be an important thing to donate to, helping create positive relationships in the community. This year, which lasted a little more than a week for fundraising, more than $2,100 was raised.
Mrs. Etchey’s group officially raised the most money as an individual class.
The benefit was started initially by the St. Joseph County United Way. Wall students were able to make their efforts even more personal by creating cards for each of the kindergarten through second grade students at Three Rivers Public Schools. The cards had words of inspiration and care for the youngsters.
When it came down to it, the lighthouse team visiting the main branch of Sturgis Bank & Trust to log their coin collections. At the end of the week, the cards were delivered to students in Three Rivers as a sign of acknowledgement and some understanding. When the tornado happened, there were Three Rivers busses with students who had to re-route and pull into a separate school for safety reasons.
That caused some to be away from their families and loved ones, even if for a short time.
Bracelets were also given to the students in Three Rivers. Each featured positive words of affirmation including confident phrases such as “you are brave” and “you are kind.”
Lamb and several students in the lighthouse group also appeared on the WBET / United Way Radioathon as well. There, Lamb and a handful of Wall students presented a check to the United Way for the tornado relief fund.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Wall School students raise funds for Three Rivers tornado relief
Reporting by Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal / Sturgis Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brandon Watson, Sturgis Journal | USA TODAY Network
