Archbishop Carney graduates Karissa Lodewyke and Sophie Reinhart are heading out to the big, wide world but have already made a difference with their fundraising and charity efforts.
The two Grade 12 students in Chris Seppelt's Global Stewardship class inspired their classmates to raise $4,250 to build a school in Haiti and were rewarded with a matching Big Dreamers Award for a total $8,500.
"I had to pull the phone away from my ears because of the screaming," said Reinhart who was the first to learn of the award two weeks ago and called her friend with the news.
"You just feel you did something," said Lodewyke about the successful efforts to help the quake-stricken country.
But the students say the fundraising wasn't all their doing. Fellow Archbishop Carney students jumped on board the project, helping organize a fair trade bake sale, a Jeans Day, a school dance and a pep rally for the effort.
The students were inspired by a We Day rally in October and decided to channel their social responsibility efforts to Haiti because it seemed the most needy.
"We Day (sponsored by Free the Children) got the ball rolling with how and what the money can go toward," said Lodewyke, who described the project as "amazing and incredible."
However, the efforts to make a difference in the world won't stop there. The two spent spring break working with disadvantaged children in the South Bronx and plan to return next spring while Reinhart will be volunteering at an orphanage in Ghana this summer.
School plans include International Studies at SFU for Lodewyke and Capilano College's Global Stewardship program for Reinhart.
They have the world yet to explore, but for the two of them, making a difference for others is their mantra.
"Every little bit you do makes you want to do more," Reinhart said.
