VWHS students aid local charity

VWHS news

Seniors in the English Department at Van Wert High School are currently working on this year’s Senior English class project to assist local community-support agencies. As part of the project, members of the first- and seventh period English classes recently sponsored a dodgeball tournament, with the proceeds marked for Blessings in a Backpack.

Blessings in a Backpack began in Van Wert City Schools in January 2010, serving 130 children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade. The program is designed to help meet some of the nutritional needs of children and their families, providing food in backpacks that students take home for use over the weekend. This year, more than 200 students are being served.

The first food distribution to schoolchildren was established in 2005 in Louisville as an outreach of USA Harvest. Since then, the program has grown to include 437 schools in 42 states and in other countries around the world. Locally, the major supporter for the program has been St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, with Van Wert High School seniors driving the fundraising and implementation of the project.

In order to raise funds for local Blessings in a Backpack, the first and seventh period seniors organized and officiated at the dodgeball tournament, which was held in the high school gymnasium. Junior high and senior high teams competed in a double-elimination tournament, and members of the community attended the event as a show of support.

Local agencies supported the event through cash donations and prizes. Sponsors included United Steel Workers District 1 Local 13029, Greif Bros. Corporation, Straightline Body & Paint, Greve Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge of Van Wert, Game Stop, Burger King, Van Wert Cinemas, Northwest Ohio Welch Trophy and T-Shirts, and Rural King.

As part of the overall Senior Project, each senior in every English class at Van Wert High School will perform 10 hours of service to local agencies, and each student will help organize and conduct some sort of fundraising effort. The culminating event for the Senior Project will take place in the spring and will include a presentation with PowerPoint before a panel of community leaders, school representatives, and teachers from the school’s English department.