the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Mahwah NJ, Mahwah High School’s Habitat for Humanity Club believes they can, and they’ve set out to prove it this year. The students took on this staggering challenge with the aim of capping off their year-long fundraising efforts with a grand event: a volleyball tournament for students, alumni, and faculty on June 17.
“They first proposed raising $5,000 but we said ‘Why not go bigger?’,” said Assistant Principal Craig Jandoli. “So they came up with an estimate of enough money to buy the building supplies for Habitat’s next house project in Oradell, and settled on $140,000.”
While more than $140,000 is required to build a Habitat house, this exceptional goal set by the student group is still incredibly ambitious, said Teri Capparrelli, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County. The organization builds or rehabilitates homes and sells them to low-income families at cost using volunteer labor and donations.
“I was absolutely overwhelmed,” Capparrelli said. “I think it’s pretty amazing that these kids want to give back so much to their community. This home is not going to be done by September. So if these kids don’t reach their goals by the time the seniors graduate, then the next group will take over.”
So far, the group has raised $5,000.
Club President Carleigh May shares that their estimated 120 student members have organized a number of projects to support their goal, including a homework club to tutor younger students and the Snow Angels program, which involves shoveling snow for senior citizens.
“We chose to partner with Habitat for Humanity because this allows our students to go beyond Mahwah and be able to make an impact even further than our home community,” Carleigh said.
The club has also enlisted the support of its grade schools. Joyce Kilmer School’s student council and Gifted & Talented students have assembled bookmarks and “kindness bracelets” for sale at the volleyball event.
“We’ve also created a T-shirt for the event people can buy that day,” said adviser Sarah Guzinski.
The volleyball tournament will kick off at 7 p.m. on June 17 at Mahwah High School, located at 50 Ridge Road. Tickets are $5 to watch a series of contests between student, staff, and alumni teams. The event will feature food trucks, music, and other attractions to create a lively atmosphere. To donate, visit the Mahwah Habitat donation site, or check out Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County’s website at habitatbergen.org.
Join us in supporting this inspiring initiative and witness how a community comes together, proving that even $5 at a time, you can achieve great things.
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