The Henry H. Wells Middle School Leadership Club takes civic responsibility very seriously.
Recently, the club spearheaded a month-long schoolwide campaign to support the Putnam Humane Society. With help from Daria Pascale’s eighth-grade health classes, the club collected $326 along with much-needed supplies for the local animal shelter.
“They’re pretty much all animal lovers,” Marisa Gargano said of the club’s members. “Many of them, as well as myself and my co-advisor Mrs. Miller, have rescue pets. When we were brainstorming different civic projects we could do, this was one of the top ideas for the year.”
In hopes of getting monetary donations in addition to blankets and food for the shelter, club members baked dog biscuits after school and gave them out at lunchtime, requesting donations in return. They raised $150.
“Ms. Pascale is a huge dog lover,” Gargano said. “She thought it would be a good idea to ask her eighth-grade health class students if they’d give a dollar each.” It did not take long before students were giving ten dollars instead of just one. Pascale’s classes raised an additional $176.
At the end of April, members of the Leadership Club visited the Putnam Humane Society to present their donations and supplies to the shelter. They spent some time with the cats and dogs there and even brought some of their biscuits to the shelter.
The Club has been busy giving back to the community all year long — and they continue to do so. They recently did a Wear-Your-Hat-to-School Day campaign to benefit the Anderson Center for Autism, a residential home for children with autism ages 6-21. Students wearing hats were asked to make a $2 donation.
“We made $461 for a one-day event,” Gargano said. “I didn’t expect that we’d make that much. Even kids who weren’t wearing hats were donating. It was beautiful.”
Next up for the club is working on a carnival game for Relay for Life in June.
“The club is a civics club,” Gargano said. “It’s all about participating in your community and the global world. It’s great. It’s nice if we can help local, here in the community.”