Photo courtesy of Delanie Shult
Donation items were collected in the counseling office to be taken to the Project Wee Care facility to be distributed to local families in need. “This year, NHS donated spaghetti sauce, noodles, and hamburger/chicken helper as part of the overall donation drive,” Kosziek said. “Last year, Millard West as a whole donated over 1000 items to the Project Wee Care facility.”
Caring for the community
Project Wee Care strives to provide for families in order to have happy holidays
In partnership with the Millard Business Association and Millard district students and staff, Project Wee Care contributes to aiding less fortunate families during the holiday season. Food, clothing and gifts are donated from around the metro to be sorted and packaged for distribution for a goal of 300 families and 1300 individuals.
The National Honors Society (NHS) integrates Millard West into the environment of giving by suggesting donation items for the students and staff to participate as well. Helping the drive is encouraged all around and advertised throughout the school and through the daily announcements.
“This is the first year that the National Honor Society has partnered with Mrs. Brady to gather non-perishable donations for this event,” NHS co-sponsor and speech pathologist Stacey Kozsiek said. “We are not asking for monetary support nor are we selling items to raise money for Project Wee Care.”
The Millard Business Community Foundation had over 150 volunteers to distribute contributions. Packages held perishable and non-perishable food items, such as canned foods and holiday favorites like turkey and ham, to last the winter break for Millard families as well as household items. The final collection center lives in an unoccupied retail space for the seasonal giving.
Departments around the building have signed up for specific items to donate in hopes of creating the most efficient system of contribution. General items were picked by teachers to be collected in a span of a few weeks.
“We saw the opportunity to help out and signed up to bring hats for Project Wee Care,” drama teacher Brooke Phillips said. “We announced the opportunity at our drama club meeting and hoped that students would each bring a hat to donate by the following week. We gathered everything up and submitted it by the final day they were accepting collections.”
After a few conversations with Project Wee Care representatives, the NHS decided to take control this year in a cumulative effort to give back to the community as well as build their skills the prestigious club works towards.
A part of the effort was in the physical offerings, but the NHS officers and members also helped in delegating tasks to get done and making posters to spread the word. After the organization sent the list of what was needed, they got to work.
“In the past, NHS has donated to the drive however this is the first year that we are leading the drive,” senior National Honors Society officer Sophie Hill said. “It’s another great opportunity for us to exemplify the NHS pillars of leadership and service. As an officer, we work with our advisers to ensure all items have been signed up to donate to, promote the drive and collect donations.”
Final donations were accepted on November 21st and packaged that evening to be picked up by a donated truck to be further handled.