{"id":60269,"date":"2025-11-14T20:40:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T00:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=60269"},"modified":"2025-11-14T20:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T00:40:27","slug":"holland-road-elementary-students-warm-hearts-with-big-give-winter-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=60269","title":{"rendered":"Holland Road Elementary students warm hearts with Big Give winter drive"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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FLETCHERS LAKE<\/strong>: A Grade 4\/5 class at Holland Road Elementary School in Fletchers Lake has shown just how far a simple act of kindness can go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea sparked after the class watched a Kid President video about kindness and learned about \u201cSocktober,\u201d a movement encouraging people to donate socks for those in need. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, the students read an article about the initiative and discussed how even the smallest gesture can create a ripple effect of good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t long before the students decided they wanted to make a ripple of their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe started by learning about Socktober and how even a small act of kindness can create a ripple effect,\u201d said their teacher, Nicole LeGrow. \u201cThe students were inspired and wanted to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some Holland Road Elementary School students with Catherine Miller, president COAT Society and a jam packed car full of donations from the students and community. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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And they did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What began as a sock drive quickly grew into a full winter donation effort. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class collected socks, coats, hats, mittens, and other warm essentials for people in the community who may be struggling as temperatures drop. They partnered with The COAT Society and its Big Give Project, which provides free, gently used winter items to anyone who needs them on Nov. 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student Reese Shearer said she was proud of how much the class gathered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of these things have been sitting in closets for years and probably would have stayed there without being worn,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The kids collected a lot of donations for COAT. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

For Finn Sankey, the project was an eye-opener. He said the experience taught him a lot and encouraged him to support more local fundraisers in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classmate Jocelyn Ardley said the initiative helped her understand the impact of even small gestures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis project made me appreciate how lucky I am, but it also opened my eyes to how one small act can make a big change,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWhen I look at how much our class alone collected, I can\u2019t help but think\u2014what if next year we made this a school-wide or even community-wide initiative? Imagine how many more people we could help.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n

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The back of the car is filled with donations. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Nathaniel Monette said he was surprised to learn how much need exists right here at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou always hear about other countries needing help, but you don\u2019t always see that there are people right here in our own town and schools who need support too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along the way, the class tied the project into curriculum goals, connecting themes of empathy, civic engagement, and community action to their writing and discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All donations were picked up earlier this week, and the class is thrilled knowing their efforts will directly support families at the upcoming Big Give event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many are already brainstorming how to make next year\u2019s effort even bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For LeGrow, watching the students learn what kindness can accomplish has been the greatest reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey learned that they\u2019re never too young to make a difference,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd this project showed them exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The students at HRES with bags and boxes of donations. (Submitted photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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FLETCHERS LAKE: A Grade 4\/5 class at Holland Road Elementary School in Fletchers Lake has shown just how far a simple act of kindness can go. The idea sparked after the class watched a Kid President video about kindness and learned about \u201cSocktober,\u201d a movement encouraging people to donate socks for those in need. From […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60274,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[965,12,957],"tags":[9704,2750,9705,9706,196,986,65,2763,2754,9707],"class_list":["post-60269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-hants","category-featured","category-news","tag-big-give","tag-catherine-miller","tag-coat-donations","tag-coat-society","tag-east-hants","tag-elmsdale","tag-fletchers-lake","tag-holland-road-elementary-school","tag-the-big-give","tag-winter-donations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=60269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/60274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=60269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=60269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=60269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}