Grade 7 students at Sacred Heart Elementary School were truly in the spirit of Lent this year, observing the tenets of the season by contributing to an in-class fundraiser in support of Hunger in Moose Jaw. 

“Part of our goals during the Lent season are to promote almsgiving and acts of charity,” said Dan Marori, teacher at Sacred Heart Elementary. “We thought this was a good way to give back to an organization in Moose Jaw that directly benefits our school and other schools in the city.” 

Hunger in Moose Jaw was selected as beneficiary due to the organizations continued work with schools, providing meals through the Holy Trinity Catholic School’s Nutrition Program. 

“They help us out, why not return the favour and try to help them out?” said Marori. 

The class raised funds within the classroom in exchange for special privileges during classroom hours. 

“The students were able to pay small amounts for different privileges within the classroom. Things such as wearing a hat for the day, listening to music for the day – outside of teacher instruction of course, sitting at the teacher’s desk for the whole day, which was one of the bigger expenses,” explained Marori. 

The fundraiser resulted in the classroom presenting Hunger in Moose Jaw with over $250. 

The class has plans to expand its fundraising efforts to other organizations in the city, with the Humane Society being mentioned for a potential future beneficiary of their efforts. 

“I was blown away by the generosity of a number of our students, some of them brought money every day,” said Marori. “A lot of awesome attitudes were revealed through this process.”