Everyday more than 300 students are dropped off at St. Michael University School’s senior campus, with parents sitting in traffic on the one-way road that circles the campus, ready to rush off to work.
Watching this sparked an idea for Grade 12 student Mark Finamore — why not take advantage of the the traffic to do something good? And that’s exactly what he did.
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Last year, Finamore and his peers in the school’s Me to We club held three drive-thru events, directing the one-way traffic to a stand along the road, set up with coffee and doughnuts that could be purchased by donation. At the end of the year the students were able to present a cheque of $1,100 to the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness.
This year, they’ve got bigger plans.
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Finamore’s project has won $2,500 from Coast Capital’s Power of Youth contest, which aims to empower youth to become change makers in ways that make a difference to their communities.
With plans to double the number of drive-thru events throughout the school year, adding some more variety to the treats they offer and eventually building a brick and mortar drive-thru stand, the money will be put to good use.
The funds raised this year will go towards The Victoria Dandelion Society, another organization aimed at supporting the city’s most vulnerable.
“It’s definitely great to be recognized for a small thing I was doing to help the community,” he says. “I’m super excited that we have money to put back into the initiative.”
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