Editor’s note: If the surname of the author looks familiar, you’ll figure out that Kenzie McCarthy is the daughter of James McCarthy, managing editor at NNSL Media. Kenzie wanted to write a story about something cool that happened at her school earlier this month and, after several minutes of hemming and hawing, the old man figured it would be all right. Here is Kenzie’s finished product. Enjoy.
Students at Ecole St. Patrick High School recently raised money to send to countries to help repair damages and support families who have suffered through Hurricane Fiona and the flood in Pakistan.
An estimated 33 million people were impacted by these severe weather events, which is around the population of Canada, and two million homes have been destroyed from the flood in Pakistan.
It has been estimated to cost $10 billion to fix damages, and aid Pakistan.
“I wanted to try to fundraise in a different way, so I thought of holding a challenge,” said Rohma Athar, a Grade 12 student who goes to St. Pat’s.
Athar was the student who led the fundraiser for the flood in Pakistan and Hurricane Fiona, which devastated portions of Canada’s East Coast in late September.
She is a part of a well-known school volunteering group called Interact. The students filled up three huge jars with candy and invited people to guess how many candies were in the jar. They set up in the rock area of the school during lunch and anyone could go up and take a guess for $1.
During the period before lunch, a small group of older students would hold up signs in classroom windows to help remind others about the guessing going on in the rock area.
This “candy campaign” was really important to Athar and to Interact. There is an incredible amount of flooding in Pakistan, to the extent that one-third of the country is under water. Pakistan is larger than Alberta.
Athar spoke about how they needed an estimated $700 million to help fix the damages caused by Hurricane Fiona. Houses and various other private properties have been destroyed. Trees and vegetation have been damaged.
“I don’t know the exact amount, but my estimate would be around $200,” Athar said of the amount raised at St. Pat’s.
For only a few 40-minute lunch periods, $200 is an incredible amount.
They wrapped up the fundraising challenge by announcing the winners of the three massive jars of candy.
