Students at Springvale Elementary School, located at 92 Down’s Avenue in Halifax, Nova Scotia, made an effort to ensure that everyone in their community stayed warm this winter.

Throughout the month of January students Jenna Mills and Sarah Pugh rallied their entire school to collect winter clothing for local individuals and families in need.

Joanna Flemming, Jenna’s mother, said the idea for the drive came after her daughter heard about the four-story apartment building fire at 25 Arthur St. in Dartmouth that displaced more than 50 residents and destroyed all their possessions.

“Right away Jenna wanted to donate some of her own clothes to help the children who lost theirs in the fire, so we thought why not try and get more people involved? Jenna and Sarah presented the idea for a clothing drive to their class and the ball got rolling from there,” said Joanna.

“The girls are happy to have been able to put their plan in motion and feel very good to be part of something that will directly impact the lives of people in our community,” she said.

Thanks to the support and participation of students and teachers, the clothing drive resulted in the collection of 400 pounds of clothing, books, toys, household items and two cash donations.

The donations were picked up on February 14th by The Salvation Army and our team had an opportunity to personally thank the young students for their selfless and commendable effort to help others in need.