Secondary students show their caring sides with acts of charity

A SERIES of charitable acts in the final three months of 2020 singled out the students of Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí as a caring community.

Despite the challenges of Covid-19, the students raised an impressive €500 for Pieta House in October, and, in November – when the weather turned cold – they set about helping the homeless in Cork city.

They did this by collecting food, blankets, clothes and personal hygiene projects to be distributed to those living on the streets, or staying in emergency B&B or hostel accommodation.

Then, in December, the first year classes decided to support Trocaire by helping in the purchase of an assortment of life-changing goods such as chickens, solar lamps, tools, seed kits and soap.

At Christmas time, they looked a little closer to home and helped St Vincent de Paul by providing the organisation with 14 boxes containing non-perishable goods.

They remembered to pack clothes, new books, toys and duvet sets – a gesture that the organisation found incredibly moving.

Even the annual Christmas Jumper Day was put to good use and the €936 raised by the students on December 11th went directly to the Cork Simon Community.

To put a smile on everyone’s faces, the students arranged free hot chocolate for one and all – a gesture kindly supported by Centra and SuperValu and supervised by Mrs McGrath in the kitchen.

The raffle on the day was supported by Mairead O’Brien of Bakewell Catering who provided the €100 first prize, and Stephen Keohane who provided multiple passes for Bantry Cinemax as the second and third prizes.