The clothing donation box next to the library, the tree in the main hallway, and the food drive at the entrance of Woodgrove are often overlooked by students who walk past. Every year, Woodgrove’s clubs put on many non-profit and fundraising events, especially during the winter holidays. Woodgrove’s clubs aim to find students in need in order to help the community. Many students do not even know about these events that help a variety of people in need. 

Woodgrove Christians in Action (WCA) is a religious based club that emphasizes charity events. President of WCA, sophomore Mackenzie Canete, described WCA as a club focused on “[putting] their faith into action and helping people in their community.” In November, WCA hosted a clothing drive with donations going to the Tree of Life Ministries, a clothing closet located in the town of Purcellville, Virginia. Canete has a desire to help those in need. She explained, “I think [the clothing drive] mostly impacted the people that maybe we don’t see that often and that we don’t know are struggling.”

Also in November, the Student Council Association (SCA) put on a food drive for the food pantry at Woodgrove. The food drive was a week long event that took place in the front of the school. This year, the SCA included incentives for participation to increase. Incentives like a pizookie and taping Mr. Scott to the wall at a party for those who donated to the food drive were put in place. President of SCA, senior Bella Towe, explained, “At the start of the year, our food closet was practically empty. They did a food drive for an entire week and we received a lot of donations.” Towe also shared who benefits from the food drive, explaining, “Our food pantry goes to kids whose families can’t afford food or don’t have the money for groceries.”

During December, the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) made an “angel” donation tree to collect gifts for preschool students. There were toys, clothes, games, and more donated to this cause. When asked, co-president of DECA, senior Ainsley Bowman, explained, “The angel tree event was important because there are people who are less fortunate who still deserve Christmas presents.”

With each event being different, one unifying trait is that each share the same goal: helping out the local community. Bowman shared, “I think [drives] might have taught people at our school that there are people who are less fortunate. It gives people another perspective and taught people some empathy. The giving spirit is what the holidays are  all about.”