It has been exceptionally important in the past year that the Belmont Hill Community serve others and helps to support communities which are less fortunate than our own. Although public safety guidelines have led to the cancellation of events in which BH students would participate in a normal year, many members of the community have come together as a community and we have sought alternative ways to help others. One such way of helping the community was through the “Giving Week” initiative led by Mr. George and Mrs. McDonald.
Giving Week began when, over the winter and early spring, Mrs. McDonald was confronted by students with a number of different ideas for donation drives. “We felt it made the most sense to combine them into a single effort, and that gamble ended up paying off,” Mr. George said in an interview. “Families were able to bring in items for more than one drive all at once, and we ended up with more items than expected for all four drives.”
But this success did not occur from the efforts of only a few people. In addition to families providing the items for the drives, this effort was aided by a number of organizations with whom Belmont Hill has worked before and a small group of student volunteers, to help manage the drives. “One highlight for Mrs. McDonald and me was the way each team stepped up and got the work done that was needed to make this event work,” Mr. George explained. “Another highlight was the enthusiastic assistance from several parents who helped deliver the items to our partners.”
Despite the success of Giving Week, the question still remains as to what the future holds for community service at Belmont Hill. While it looks like we will have to wait and see if events such as freshman trips to the Butler School and Christmas in the City will resume, hopefully many of the creative projects which students have worked on this year will continue into the future.
