A group of F.H. Clergue Public School students have enjoyed shopping for gifts to give to SOYA (Save Our Young Adults) clients this Christmas season.
The students - in Elvezia Panco’s Gr. 7 class and Stacey Verbonac’s Gr. 6/7 class - packed 50 ‘Blessing Bags’ containing essential items on Tuesday, the bags to be taken by the teachers to the SOYA depot on Gore Street on Thursday.
SOYA staff will then hand out the bags to clients.
There are 25 Blessing Bags for males, 25 for females.
The bags contain personal hygiene products, mittens, hand warmers, hats, socks, insoles for shoes, snack packs and other items.
Male bags also contain shaving cream and razors while female bags include feminine hygiene products.
“It’s the Christmas season and we wanted to give to people and not just receive things, so we started buying these gifts at the stores and brought them up to the school, put them into bags and are sending them to people in need,” said Gr. 6 student Praise Shima.
“Giving gifts to other people fills my heart and cheers the hearts of people in need. These are supplies to help them have a better life. While shopping we felt like we were going to make a change in people’s lives,” Shima said.
“It’s really refreshing being on the other end and watching someone receive something that could make their day. It’s really quite nice,” said Gr. 7 student Emily George.
SOYA is a non-profit group that supports those living with substance use disorder.
“We gave the students this project to do at Christmas time to give back to the community,” Gr. 7 teacher Elvezia Panco told SooToday.
“This activity gives the children a sense of leadership and lets them know that they can make a change, even if they're pre-teens. They have a responsibility in society to make that change. It’s transformative. It helps them see how much they have when they see other people who are not as fortunate or forgotten in this world,” Panco said.
Panco estimated that $500 worth of merchandise was purchased on shopping trips by the students’ parents or the students themselves.
“They have been excited about this. Every time someone came in with more items they said ‘now we’ve got more mini-shampoo bottles.’ They kept counting and recounting. They loved it. They knew it was their project and they could physically see the Blessing Bags and that they would make a physical and emotional change for others,” Panco said.
“These are our future community leaders, so we have to encourage that leadership in them,” Gr. 6/7 teacher Stacey Verbonac said.
“It’s a really healthy thing for them to be involved in. It’s nice to see them take ownership of it and be mindful of others and understand that small gestures can have a big impact,” Verbonac said.
The students agree.
“It’s really nice because I can see that people in our class now know that you don’t need to give someone a mansion or an expensive car to make their day. Small things like these can make them happy,” said Gr. 7 student Emily George.