The Drive That Took Place on Thanksgiving and The Christmas Drive Yet To Come
By Elyse Mathews
“Holidays” and “donating” go hand in hand in RHS’s activity this year.
A toy drive has started on the 3rd of December, with proceeds going to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bridgeland High School. The junior Jay Ahn is running it through the school’s volunteering club, Ridgewood Civic Youth Corps (CYC), which he originally joined because he “needed hours and an opportunity to help out.”
The year before, he was able to raise “around $2,000 worth of gifts”, but he’s hoping to accomplish more with fresh ideas. “One gift is equal to one service hour”, and they have a social media page on Instagram. “But mainly right now, the plan is to use word of mouth and school announcements.” The CYC’s international drive, on the whole, is also looking hopeful as an increased number of schools and districts are participating in the drive.
Jay also reached out to Grade Level Advisor Mrs. Cordasco to help and involve the National Honor Society. She explains how there is “a big network of students.”
The two leaders agree that it is challenging to stand out from other holiday drives, but Mrs. Cordasco feels “we have a definite and concrete mission.” On the other hand, they understand the importance of finding a distinct spot for their donation box. Mrs. Cordasco describes the main entrance as “a little bit saturated,” so they are planning to set up their donation box in the little hallway that directly leads to the nurse’s office. Other donation spots include 217 Pershing Ave and 706 Belmont Road, as written on their flier. The organization will stop taking donations after the 19th.
Their guidelines for accepted donations include: new art supplies, gift cards, books, or stuffed animals in original wrapping. But they can’t take violence-themed items, religious-themed items, or anything edible or perishable. All donations must be unwrapped. Mrs. Cordasco speculated that it was because the organization would have to “clean it, make sure it’s not a compromised item, and also count up the monetary values of the gifts” to record the organization’s level of success this year.
While not all families celebrate Christmas, Mrs. Cordasco describes how their main goal isn’t to make families “feel discriminated or prejudiced against when receiving these gifts.” To make the drive more secular, they emphasize that they aren’t accepting any religious-themed gifts. Jay considers using the image of Santa Claus to be “fine” in terms of religious connotation.
As for their inspiration, Mrs. Cordasco believes that “donated toys bring so much joy to children who are in the hospital. It could help families who aren’t as fortunate as we are, who have to pay hospital fees in addition to the everyday cost of living. This would give those families the chance to see their kids’ faces opening presents.” She further reflects on how the children receiving these gifts “might not live normal lives if they’re sick at such a young age, so they’re not really included in society, and they’re isolated. So we want to bring them a little bit of joy.”
In other news, HOSA recently ran a food drive that lasted from October 13th to November 14th. The proceeds went to the patients undergoing treatment at Luckow Pavilion, a hospital HOSA had never partnered with in the past. Senior Ella Cahill, in charge of communication, worked on the idea with the guidance of her mentor, a nurse practitioner at Valley Hospital. From there, HOSA worked with Helping Hands Hopeful Hearts to set their plan in motion. On the whole, Emily Park, a senior who created and currently runs HOSA, says, “Ella was the main contributor to it. Then it was a team effort from everyone in the cabinet: me, Sophia Oliver, Deven Shah, Julia Savitscus, Sunny Bateman, and Beliz Unal.”
Emily asserts that as a medical club, “we have a lot of interest in helping local communities and completing service projects. That’s half of what HOSA is about, I feel like a lot of people think HOSA is just competition-based.” The club, which connects the school to the international HOSA organization, started in Emily’s sophomore year, 2023. She marvels at its growth in just three years: “I remember doing the club fair alone, and now our cabinet’s expanded and we have more than 200 members.” According to Emily, the club’s community engagement is important since “healthcare isn’t just memorizing terminology. At the end of the day, the main goal is to treat patients.” Ella agrees and describes the drive as an “amazing experience that was deeply rooted in service, compassion, and genuine care for others.” It reminded her of “why I love being part of HOSA.”
In the past, the club ran drives for medical supplies and made letters for people living in assisted living facilities and senior homes. Upon shifting gears, many of the participants found it easier to donate food, “especially around the holidays,” or Thanksgiving, when there’s “an abundance of food to donate.” Emily also speculates that “people tend to gravitate towards drives that have a more practical use” and allows them to connect “with patients receiving treatment.” She adds how “it’s great to know that what we’re donating is actually reaching people and making a real change.”
The proceeds from the drive went to Valley’s annual Thanksgiving “grab-and-go” event for patients and families in need. Ella explains how the donated food helps “more families enjoy a complete and comforting holiday meal.” They accepted non-perishable canned or boxed goods and baby essentials. Ella explains how “food insecurity is one of the most common challenges faced by the patients at the radiology center. Collecting food directly addresses their most immediate and pressing need.”
“Turkey Day” is what Emily calls Thanksgiving, along with what she considers to be many others. She believes “Thanksgiving has become a holiday for families. It’s important to recognize that the history of Thanksgiving or the stories told are closer to mythology than real life, but either way, the holiday is still important.” Beyond that, Emily also asserts that it is more important to focus on the families struggling during winter than “the origins of the holiday”.
This year, HOSA replaced its secretary position with a formal engagement team. Marketing improved as Ella Cahill, Deven Shah, and Sophia Oliver were constantly updating HOSA’s Instagram along with Google Classroom posts. Emily considers the two different forms of communication as a perfect combination. “Emails and Google Classroom announcements are something you see during the school day, and then phone notifications are something you receive after school.” Ella remembers how the donations came in slowly at first, but then “once awareness grew, they picked up significantly and stayed steady.”
There was an incentive; every three donated goods counted as an hour of community service. But Emily remembers how surprised she was with the drive’s success: “People didn’t just do the bare minimum; everyone did such a great job.” The club filled their car with six or seven overflowing bags when bringing their donations to the hospital. Ella described this transportation as the only challenging part of the drive, “which was a great problem to have.” Emily hopes that the club continues this drive after her graduation with even greater levels of success. As for the rest of the year, the club will continue other service projects “during seasons where toy or food drives aren’t as popular.”