STUCO Helping Our Neighbors
December 14, 2016
StuCo volunteered with the Johnson County Christmas Bureau on Sunday, Dec. 4. Students worked in a variety of areas, ranging from assisting families with their shopping to moving boxes, to restocking tables. All of their work was to support the Holiday Shop, which provides free gifts to low income families in Johnson County.
One in seven Johnson County residents live below the federal poverty level, a third of which are children and teens.
“Many of us do not know when our close neighbors are in need… It is very satisfying to volunteer for an organization that works so hard to make everyone have a more joyful holiday season,” said six year, full time volunteer, Cheryl Gettinger.
The Bureau has been serving the community for over 50 years with the goal to serve the neighbors with kindness and dignity. Today they serve 12,000- 14,000 families each year with their various programs, just one of which is their Holiday Shop.
The Holiday Shop aims to give people everything they need to enjoy their holiday season with their families. This includes gifts, clothing, personal care items, groceries, holiday decorations, toys, and books and even a grocery store stocked mostly with food donated from school donation drives. One of their biggest initiatives is being able to provide every family member with a winter coat. They met that goal this year with donations adding up to over 13,000 coats.
“It is just incredible to see the community come together like this to support such a good cause,” said first year, full time volunteer, Leann Moylan.
StuCo volunteered for two hours at the shop, which was located in the old Olathe Hy-Vee building. Spanish Honor Society students used their Spanish-speaking skills to communicate with some of the families and help them with the shopping process. Other students worked to move products and arrange them for shoppers to pick something out.
“We would never be able to accomplish our goals without our Community Volunteers, including the many students we have each year in December… [but] It is not only a means to get credit for needed community service sours… we feel it is important that our students begin to recognize how most…in the area are very fortunate to be in the position we are in and that it is important to learn to give back to our neighbors in need,” Gettinger said.
Annaleigh Hobbs,a junior and the student body secretary, had the job of organizing the event for all of StuCo to participate.
“I think it’s so important for the student council… not only to be making an impact here… but in the community…it is such a unique opportunity to volunteer with JCCB because it’s an organization that the student body actively makes a difference with through the canned food drive. Being able to see how our donations are being used to make a change in a person’s life is a very humbling experience. We hope to make volunteering at the JCCB Holiday shop, an annual tradition for StuCo”, Hobbs said.
