At the beginning of May, Calvert’s Middle School Diversity Club organized a bake sale to benefit Marian House, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help rehabilitate women who are working towards a better life and are in need of their services. Marian House provides housing and support services to women and their children in the Baltimore area. Profits from the bake sale were used to create Mother’s Day baskets for participants of Marian House.
The idea to support Marian House came from the members of the Diversity Club after hearing the Executive Director of Marian House, Katie Allston, speak about the program in February. In addition, a member of the Club shared her personal connection to Marian House, she has an aunt who works there. Calvert reached out to Marian House to see how we could help, and they suggested making baskets for Mother’s Day for the 28 women currently participating in their program. They sent the Club a “wish list” of personal items that one usually takes for granted, such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc.
In order to purchase these items, the Diversity Club came up with the idea of having a bake sale to raise money. Diversity Club members reached out to the Seventh Grade Leadership Program students and the entire Eighth Grade provide baked goods for the bake sale. They also thought that something more personal should be included, so they contacted the Sixth Grade Team who asked that they make gimp key chains, decorate wooden boxes, and decorate gift bags. To make this truly a school-wide activity, other students from the Middle School as well as After School Care and Kiddie Calvert drew cards to include in the baskets.
Diversity Club organized and ran the bake sale, which raised $461!
Following the bake sale, with parent volunteers and teacher proctors, Diversity Club purchased the wish list items at Target and then traveled to Marian House to assemble the 28 gift bags. After purchasing the wish list items, any remaining funds were donated directly to Marian House.
Following the bake sale, with parent volunteers and teacher proctors, Diversity Club purchased the wish list items at Target and then traveled to Marian House to assemble the 28 gift bags. After purchasing the wish list items, any remaining funds were donated directly to Marian House.
Eighth Grade organizer and Diversity Club member Cynthia S., expressed that, for her, this was “a learning experience and an example of how we can make a real-world impact on people’s lives through outreach.”
