BEAVER, Pa. — High school students in the Beaver Area School District are teaching younger students about the importance of community service during the district’s annual Day of Giving event, which has been a tradition for six years.
The event brings students of all ages together to work on various service projects aimed at helping those in need. From cleaning bike trails to assembling care packages for local shelters, hundreds of students across the district are involved in giving back to the community.
“This environment helps kids grow into good people who contribute to the community as they get older,” said Maddie Walker, a freshman at Beaver Area High School.
Heather Bixler, a teacher at Beaver Area High School, emphasized the value of community engagement.
“To be a good citizen, you also have to be a good neighbor,” she said. “We serve our neighbors by meeting their needs, and that’s what makes a community strong.”
Students are working on projects such as filling purses for a women’s shelter, assembling bags for a men’s 24-hour shelter in Vanport, and cleaning up local bike trails at Brady’s Run Park. In addition, younger students are coming up with their own ideas for service, including creating beds and cots for animals at a local humane society.
“It feels good to help animals at the humane society,” said Jonah Kudritz, a fifth-grader at Dutch Ridge Elementary School. “We could make things like cots or beds to help the stray animals and make their lives better before they get adopted.”
As part of the event, students also made and packed blankets for the Center in Midland and assembled bags for Thanksgiving meals. Organizers are hopeful the Day of Giving will continue to grow, expanding to more communities in the future.
“We hope to expand into Midland and reach more kids there,” Bixler said. “We see potential for this project to grow across Beaver County. The sky’s the limit.”
The district’s Day of Giving would not be possible without the support of local businesses, including Frye Transportation, which donates buses to transport students to their service locations.
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