Help the High School Collect 5,000 Items for Haven of Rest

’Tis the season for giving, and Student Council members are hopeful residents will go through closets and cupboards to find items for donation to the Haven of Rest Holiday Drive currently under way at the school.

High school math teacher Amanda Murray, now in her third year as Student Council advisor, said the group of student leaders has had similar drives the past couple years at both the high school and at .

The recipient organization both years was the Good Neighbors program in Cuyahoga Falls, which isn’t accepting clothing this year.

“We usually get a lot of clothing donations, so this year we decided to go with Haven of Rest because we wanted to pick an organization that we are able to make the biggest impact with,” Murray explained.

Another change this year is that the drive has expanded beyond students and staff at the two school buildings to include the entire community.

“We’re hoping we can make a larger impact and help more people during the holiday season by opening it up to the community,” Murray said. “We’re able to make it convenient by having two drop-off days – one on a Saturday and one on a weeknight – so people can pull up to the school and Student Council kids will run out, unload the donations and take them into the building.”

The drop-off events will be in the back parking lot at the high school from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 8 p.m. Dec. 7.

The most-needed items include canned goods, non-perishable foods, toiletries, new or gently used clothing of all kinds, baby items and toys for all ages. Click this link to see a complete list of needed items.

Murray said senior Lauren Nervo, Student Council president and two-year chairperson of the collection drive, is “very passionate about this and she’s hoping to be able to donate 5,000 items.”

That’s not a lofty goal, considering the number of donations the students gathered the past couple years when the drive was held in-house only.

“Last year, with the school alone, we received around 4,000 items so hopefully with the two community drop-off days we’ll get around 5,000 to 6,000,” Nervo explained.

She said the drive creates a simple way for area residents to be generous with those in need.

“Being able to help others out during the holiday season is the best feeling," Nervo said. "Many of us take what we have for granted, but if you take a step back you see there's more to life and you can easily take time to help others out. Donating is a simple task that anyone can do.”

Another change that could boost donations this year is the type of competition being held at the high school.

“In past years we had competitions between teachers to see who could collect the most amount of goods. This year, the kids decided to have a boys-against-girls competition,” Murray explained. “All the items donated are being housed in the library, which has big glass windows onto the hallways. We have a boys’ side and girls’ side so the students can see the piles grow and grow.”

Murray said the students are working hard to generate involvement in the drive. They created posters that are hung up throughout the school, where announcements are being made regularly on the public address system. Fliers promoting the event were created and emailed to every staff member in the district, as well as posted by students at about 50 area businesses.

The collection drive ends Dec. 9.

That day, Student Council members serving on the Haven of Rest subcommittee will get a release day from school to load up a school bus or two with the donations, then ride to the Haven of Rest in Akron to help unload the items.