Throughout the month of October Trafalgar’s Grade 6 students organized and facilitated a winter clothing drive to help new refugees who are living in the Durham region through the Ajax Welcome Centre.
“Seeing everybody bringing in winter clothing was my favourite part about this initiative,” shares Trafalgar student Elsie. “We sorted all of the donations and put them into boxes. It was great to see the boxes full at end and see all of the clothing that would help others.”
The Grade 6 class was learning about communities in Canada, past and present, in Social Studies during the Fall Term. Grade 6 teacher Ms. Tracey shares that the class had focused on why people decide to move to Canada. “As the war in Ukraine has been a big subject in the news, we discussed what it means to be a refugee and why Canada is a safe place for many families who need to leave their home country,” says Tracey.
Ms. Kuchirka, Head of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum helped to connect the class with the Ajax Welcome Centre and the centre hosted a Zoom call with the Grade 6 students. Employees and volunteers shared that their organization helps to support many newcomers from Ukraine in the Durham Region, and that many families were in need of warm clothing for this winter. After learning more about the war in Ukraine the Grade 6 students felt inspired to help local families and children in need by offering to gather donations from Trafalgar students.
With the help of Ms. Tracey, the class created informative posters, announcements and shared the reason for the clothing drive with the rest of the school during assembly. “Each morning, the students eagerly counted and sorted the items in the boxes,” shares Ms. Tracey. “They especially enjoyed seeing all of the donations for young children and babies who would benefit from their warm clothing.”
Over 250 individual items were donated by members of the Trafalgar community. “We had a lot of donations. My favourite part was putting the clothing into piles and seeing how much we had to give,” shares Marianna. “Counting the clothes and sorting it was one of my favourite parts, but it was also nice to see the members of our community donating because they cared about all of the new people coming into Canada,” adds Aysel.
The Grade 6 student initiative truly showed the Trafalgar spirit. It brought the class and community together to help make a difference in their community.
More about the Ajax Welcome Centre:
At Welcome Centre Immigrant Services, you can find all the services you need in one place. We are here to help newcomers and immigrants get the right information; and to find out about what other help is available in York Region and Durham Region. Learn more about the Ajax Welcome Centre on their website.