DDSB Staff and Students Spread Holiday Cheer Across Durham Region

Posted On Friday December 18, 2020
The Make a Difference team is collecting non-perishable food items for approximately 350 DDSB families.
The Make a Difference team is collecting non-perishable food items for approximately 350 DDSB families.

From food drives and fundraisers to holiday cards and knitting scarves, staff and students are making sure everyone has an enjoyable holiday season

It’s December in Durham Region and staff and students at the Durham District School Board (DDSB) are hard at work doing their best to make sure families have a safe, warm and happy holiday. Here are just a few of the holiday giving initiatives happening throughout the Board.

Making a Difference

The Make a Difference (MAD) team at the DDSB is currently running a Fall/Winter Students in Need fundraiser to support students and their families with food security, appropriate clothing, toiletries and necessary school supplies. As of December 10th, the campaign had raised over $6,500 and will run until March 12, 2021. Donations can be made at bit.ly/MADdonate.

The MAD team is also running a Giving Pantry at the Make A Difference Depot. They are in the process of collecting non-perishable food items that will be disbursed in the form of a food hamper to approximately 350 DDSB families. If you would like to donate non-perishable food items, please email MakeADifference@ddsb.ca to arrange deliveries. All food hampers will be delivered by the MAD team to families the week of December 21.

Sweet Success

Amantha, a kindergarten student at R.H. Cornish PS in Port Perry, raised $410 to buy toys for the Durham Regional Police Service annual toy drive by selling 68 jars of homemade jam. Find out more about Amantha’s story on the DurhamRegion.com website: https://www.durhamregion.com/news-story/10280794-sweet-success-scugog-girl-uses-jam-sales-to-support-toy-drive/.

Youth Leaders for Change

With help from over 200 volunteers and six elementary school classes, Pine Ridge SS graduate Noor Syed and current Grade 12 DDSB@Home student Keelin Eastveld organized the creation of over 1,000 handmade holiday cards for the residents of long-term care homes in Durham Region. Initially Noor and Keelin set the goal of creating 310 cards, but have far surpassed that goal, and will be delivering a total of 1,804 holiday cards to staff at Fairview Lodge and Taunton Mills in Whitby and Winbourne Park in Ajax. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, staff will distribute the cards to residents.

In September, Noor and Keelin started Youth Leaders for Change, with the goal of empowering youth in the community to work together to make change in the community and beyond. Check out their Instagram page to learn more about their initiatives: @youthleadersforchange.

Red Scarf Project

For the past five years, under the leadership of Durham Alternative Secondary School (DASS) teacher Laura Michaluk, students knit red scarves and wrap them around poles in downtown Oshawa so that community members may take them to stay warm. Each year Michaluk and DASS students knit 50 scarves to raise awareness about the impact of HIV. Learn more about the project here: https://www.redscarfoshawa.ca/

Holiday Cards for VIVA Retirement Residents

Dunbarton HS teacher and library head Karen Papadopoulos and her students took time out of their school day to write meaningful messages in holiday cards addressed to residents at the local VIVA Retirement Community in Pickering. See a few of their thoughtful holiday cards on the Dunbarton HS Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIlKNpmpKVg/.

Adopt-A-Family

Each holiday season, the Education Centre Staff Association and DDSB social workers team up to collect donations for families in need in the Durham Region community through the Adopt-A-Family initiative. This year, staff are supporting approximately 11 families. Check out the following story to learn more about Adopt-A-Family and some of the other initiatives organized by the Education Centre Staff Association in previous years: DDSB Staff Association donates funds to local organizations through weekly draws.