5 minute read
Middle Schoolers make a difference
—Ally Orquiola ’25
• Ally Orquiola ’25, left, and Sarah Henderson ’25 Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s Ally Orquiola ’25 helped lead a massively successful food drive at the Middle School the week prior to Thanksgiving 2020, teaming with Sarah Henderson ’25 to collect 229 pounds of nonperishable food for a local survival center.
Filled with a sense of community service and inspired by her mom’s common acts of selflessness during COVID-19, Ally extended her volunteerism initiative deeper into 2020 despite the pandemic.
During the three weeks she was at home for scheduled remote learning due to the coronavirus, Ally and her family made four trips to a local food pantry—delivering roughly a half-dozen paper bags filled with scarfs, mittens, foot warmers and hats. They even included McDonald’s gift cards and purchased items on clearance at Target.
“Even if you don’t necessarily know someone who is in need, you can still help,” Ally explained. “Maybe you can’t make a connection, but you can still help out during the pandemic.”
Ally emailed Director of the Middle School Stuart Whitcomb regarding spearheading a food drive at the Middle School. The coronavirus slowed down the process, but Ally and Sarah were given permission to put bins outside the building and email the students in the Middle School. In one week, Ally and Sarah far exceeded their goal and collected more than 200 items.
“It went really well,” said Ally of the November endeavor. “We got a lot of canned food. I was very happy. It was good everyone was able to contribute.
“I always like helping people and helping people in need. This was a good way for people who were struggling to get a meal and some extra help with their food insecurity.”
Sarah Henderson ’25: ‘It felt like I was doing something great for struggling families’
COVID-19 has impacted so many people in so many negative ways—illness, death, isolation, financial hardship ... the dire list goes on and on.
Wilbraham & Monson Academy Middle School’s Sarah Henderson ’25 has impacted a number people in the region as well, but for all the right reasons.
During the first nine months of a pandemic that shaped every minute of every day for nearly every person in the world, Sarah spearheaded three causes to help others, which is nothing short of remarkable given the countless obstacles she faced due to COVID-19. And, oh by the way, she’s 13 years old.
“I enjoy the process,” Sarah said. “Getting other people involved makes it a better experience. I enjoy helping people and the feeling of success at the end.”
First came the Will Bike for Food campaign, an annual bike-a-thon that raises awareness and funds for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. Due to the coronavirus, Sarah couldn’t get things in place to form a team at the Middle School, so she recruited her family and friends in September to raise money and participate in a virtual event during Hunger Action Month.
Next came “Just Tryan It,” a virtual triathlon held throughout the United States that serves as a fundraiser for children with cancer.
“I know during COVID-19 so many people have been struggling, especially families who have to pay for children’s medication,” said Sarah, who rode in honor of a 12-year-old girl who developed complications after her initial cancer surgery. “This was just something I really wanted to do to help out.”
With the approval and help of the Director of the WMA Middle School, Stuart Whitcomb, and other staff members, students were allowed to participate in the event on campus in late September.
“I was really happy with how it went,” Sarah added. “We raised a good amount of money and I was happy people came.”
Lastly, and most impressively, Sarah worked with classmate Ally Orquiola ’25 on a weeklong food drive at the Middle School. After hanging From Stuart Whitcomb, Director of the Middle School: “We were missing a community outreach program at a time when our community was itching to do something for others, but overwhelmed by the logistics of it all. Sarah is focused and organized, two key elements if this was going to work, but she is also resilient—time and again she worked through barriers to success. Remarkably, the first event she tackled single-handedly, working with Mr. Vartabedian to nail down some of the details. For the second event she and Ally joined together on a very successful food drive, again finding a way to support the greater community while giving their fellow students a sense of agency.” flyers in the building and sending emails to students, the pair collected 229 pounds of non-perishable food during just one week in November.
“People contributed,” Sarah beamed. “I was happily surprised and it was a great experience. I felt proud because it was great to get past our goal. I felt like I was doing something great for struggling families.”
The food drive amassed more than 200 donations, doubling their goal of 100. Her greatest satisfaction, though, came a week later when she delivered the goods to a local survival center, where she was given a tour by the director and an explanation of how the facility distributes food.
The two food drives were a reaction to a routine drive along a street in Springfield, where she saw signs at three locations that posted the same message—they were in need of food donations.
“I also saw on the news how many people were struggling with hunger and the amount of people going to food banks had increased by about 20 percent,” she explained. “It inspired me to take a bad situation and help people who were struggling during this time.”
• Kennedy Pelletier ’25, left, and Olivia Tierney ’25, center, with Sarah Henderson ’25 during their “Just Tryan It” efforts. • Sarah Henderson ’25 with donated supplies at a local Survival Center.
