MERIDIAN, Idaho — In a powerful display of community unity and youth leadership, more than 600 students dedicated two days to a massive service project aimed at lifting local organizations and residents.
Organized through a collaboration between the Rocky Mountain High School seminary youth council and the school’s JustServe Club, the event brought together students, faculty and local leaders to prove that many hands truly do make light work.
A community effort
The energy of the project extended beyond the high school campus. On Friday afternoon, Feb. 27, an adviser and students from the Meridian Boys & Girls Club joined the effort. Meridian Mayor Robert Simison and the high school administrators rolled up their sleeves, sitting alongside students to string bead bracelets.
“It was surreal to see high schoolers giving up their time to help in such a charitable way,” said Parker Hicks, seminary council president. “The seminary and institute program refocused two days of class time into this project, which was outstanding in giving students time to look outside themselves and directly help the community.”
The ‘plunge’ for a cause
While the JustServe club coordinated projects at the school, the Rocky Mountain seminary students focused their energy on a massive T-shirt drive. Motivated by seminary Principal Matthew Featherstone’s promise to take a three-minute plunge into a cold pond if they reached 500 shirts, the youth collected more than 600. These donations were then cut and repurposed into 238 braided dog chew toys for the local humane society, ensuring both a successful service project and a cold afternoon for Featherstone.
Impact by the numbers
The sheer volume of items produced during the two-day event will benefit a wide variety of Treasure Valley organizations. From veterans to four-legged friends, the reach of the students’ work was extensive:
- 238 dog chew toys for the Humane Society
- 250 birthday cards for Veterans Affairs
- 180 teddy bears for Dolls of Hope
- 984 snack packs for West Ada School District
- 173 placemats for Meridian Senior Living centers
- 176 bead bracelets for Faces of Hope
- Thousands of jewelry pieces put on cards for Idaho Youth Ranch
- 38 bead bracelets for Rocky Mountain High School community
Strength in unity
By utilizing the JustServe platform, the high school club was able to identify real needs within Meridian. However, the true success of the event was measured in the spirit felt by the participants.
“One of the greatest things about this event was the unity my peers and I felt while serving side by side,” said Zachary Cooper, co-president of the Rocky Mountain High School JustServe Club. “By inviting students to choose how they wanted to serve, they were able to have fun while making a huge impact. We are so grateful and look forward to continuing service for our community here at Rocky.”
The two-day project concluded not just with a collection of toys and cards, but with a strengthened sense of civic pride and a reminder that when the rising generation focuses on others, the entire community rises with them.
— Jessica Whiting is a Meridian Communication Council JustServe specialist.
