Community Service
Community Service
Saint David's has a long history of tending to the needs of others through a variety of community service programs. Boys begin to learn the value of helping others in Lower School where our youngest students contribute hats and mittens at Christmas to Graham-Windham Children's Services and design holiday cards for the clients of God's Love We Deliver. In the Upper School, the Fourth Grade Pennies for Puppies program raises funds for the training of seeing eye dogs, the Fifth Grade supports schools that are disadvantaged, sixth graders fund Heifer International through a series of cake sales and similar fundraising activities, and seventh graders make weekly visits to a local assisted-living facility, where students talk and play games with elderly residents.
For the oldest community action program--the school-wide Thanksgiving Food Drive--all grades collect canned goods and groceries for several weeks prior to Thanksgiving. In addition, the eighth graders sell pies to help raise money for the purchase of turkeys. Meals are packed by students and delivered the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for distribution to families in need.
In addition to participating in established community service programs, Saint David's boys step up to help through contributions of time, effort and resources when a disaster strikes at home or abroad. When the tsunami hit Southeast Asia in 2004, the Eighth Grade spearheaded a fundraising coin drive and series of bake sales that culminated with the collection of more than $10,000 for Red Cross relief efforts. Just nine months later, when Hurricane Katrina struck, students led a community book drive to assist a New Orleans elementary school that had been devastated by the storm. In the spring of 2008, the Eighth Grade led a tee-shirt fundraising drive (pictured above) to raise money for the Pediatrics Ward at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Our emphasis on service to others, compassion and community action is integral to the fulfillment of the school's mission "... that they be good men."