BY OPAL MUNGER
MEEKER | Last year on Oct. 21, 2022, the Meeker High School Student Council put on Give Back Day. Student volunteers signed up to go to the homes of people in the community to assist them with housework, landscaping and other tasks.
MHS Student Council is going to be putting Give Back Day on again this year on Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Students and the community alike benefit from Give Back Day in a variety of ways. Last year, a handful of students went to rake leaves for the elderly. When the wind picked up, causing leaves to litter the homeowners’ freshly raked lawns again, homeowners expressed their gratitude anyway, thanked the students, provided drinks for them, and got to know them.
Senior Ainsley Selle and junior Adison Selle went to an elderly woman’s home to help her re-pot a plant. While the sisters recounted that the re-potting of the plant went unsuccessfully, Adison said, “She [the woman] started coming to our volleyball games after Give Back Day last year.”
Though some of these tasks went unexpectedly, the students and other community members fostered new relationships and built stronger connections with each other.
Give Back Day draws inspiration from National Make a Difference Day, which Schoolyard by School Specialty says is celebrated on the fourth Saturday of October every year. This year will be the 25th anniversary of Make a Difference Day in Larimer County. Give Back Day is Meeker’s spin on Make a Difference Day.
“We are trying to make it a tradition,” Student Council sponsor Naomi Etchart said.
If you or any elderly folks, disabled people, or veterans you know are interested in signing up to have work done around your home on Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., please reach out to coordinator Rebekah Cravens at [email protected]. Student volunteers can help out as long as participants provide the necessary materials for the job. MHS Give Back Day is one way of saying “thank you” for all of the support that MHS students, staff, and programs receive from the Meeker community.
Need help with a home project?
If you or any elderly folks, disabled people, or veterans you know need help with work around your home, please reach out to coordinator Rebekah Cravens at [email protected].
You’ll need to provide any necessary materials for the job.
MHS student volunteers will be available Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
