Rather than participating in the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program to assist children around Hampton Roads in need, the Student Counsel Association (SCA) and other clubs around the school have taken on the similar, but different, task of helping local elementary schools in need.

This year, students chose to lead a project entitled “Hoodies for the Holidays.” The goal is to collect college sweatshirts for every child at Birdneck Elementary School, a Title I school where over 70% of the students are economically disadvantaged.

SCA students have made tags for every student with each child’s name, favorite college, and youth size, in hopes that every student at Birdneck Elementary will have a college sweatshirt, nearly 250 total. SCA wants these children to aspire to further their education, as well as stay warm this winter.

Junior Kenzie Wall is the current SCA Treasurer and is chairing the event.

“This will benefit the community and the SCA students will be able to hand deliver the sweatshirts which will be very meaningful,” Wall said.

The sweatshirt collection was advertised right before Halloween at the SCA’s annual Boo Bash event on October 30 when students began to spread the word by handing out flyers to families who attended.  Sweatshirts will be collected through Thursday, Dec. 14.

“I got this project idea from the leadership seminar last year during the Falcon Forum when a presenter, Phil Boyte, presented a similar project called ‘Shoes for Soles.’ I was originally going to do this event with shoes, but Birdneck Elementary said they were more in need of winter clothing. I was inspired by Phil Boyte’s presentation and I thought our school would be the perfect place to host a similar event,” Wall said.