Students at Hempfield Area School District’s Wendover Middle School got to take a break from classwork to spend time helping those in need through a “Day of Service” event organized by seventh grade teachers.

During their school day, 120 students across five homerooms replaced their usual classes with three service activities and a few creative projects that added up to over 400 items and packages put together for charity.

Holly Hallman, a seventh grade math teacher, says students have helped with her “Chemo Comfort Care Tote” project since 2020, when she brought the program to the school amid the covid pandemic. Hallman started the program in 2017 to put together care packages for people undergoing cancer treatment.

This year, students put together 277 care packages, and packed 120 snack bags for Zachary’s Mission, a local nonprofit that supports families whose children have terminal illnesses. The students also potted, planted and decorated 30 lilac bushes to be distributed to local nursing homes.

“In years past, (the care packages were) the only project, but I wanted to make it a little more meaningful this year and show them different ways to give their time,” Hallman said. “The important thing was to show kids that you don’t have to have the money — oftentimes you can give your time and do good.”

Hallman hopes to show students the appeal of helping others, especially students who may be too young to participate in other volunteer programs on their own.

“They were able to make a huge impact,” she said. “That’s a lot of lives that they touched in a day.”

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