Toy collections

Times Reporter   

 

Getting the chance to play with toys as a kid is something many take for granted. Emily Careless and Emily Harrison, Grade 5 students at Westmount School, wanted to do something to make a difference. Upon the suggestion of Associate Principal Dana Graff the girls focused their goal on collecting toy donations. 

Careless’s mom talked to Associate Principal Dana Graff one day after a parent council meeting and mentioned that Emily had been thinking about doing something special. 

“I talked with her and said this is what you can do and gave them some sheets, sort of planning sheets.  She went back and talked with Emily Harrison and those two then decided to come up with this plan. They had about five plans and I said, ‘well why don’t you do this one’?” said Graff. 

The girls collected toys from their fellow classmates to donate to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. They wrote up a letter to send home to all the parents on Jan. 7, created a PowerPoint presentation to show at a school assembly and made an announcement over the PA system.

“First we were going to do teddy bears but then the hockey foundation did the teddy bears so we had to change it to toys,” said Harrison. 

The girls had set a goal of collecting 100 items. The Children’s Hospital gave the girls a wish list and by the time they wrapped up collections they had received 190 items. 

“We did get lots of books and we got maybe two or three gift cards,” said Careless. 

Graff thinks Careless may have been inspired to do something after watching a fellow Westmount school mate shave his head last year. 

“It’s neat that we’re instilling that service-mindedness within kids, ‘cause you don’t always get that,” said Graff.

“We’re totally blown away by the parental support, all we did is sent a note home and we talked to the kids at the assembly and they made one announcement on the PA system, the number of toys that came in was about 200 and that’s great.”

The girls were both very happy to be able to surpass their goal. They are unsure if they will collect items for donation in the future.