Seneca Valley Senior High students have raised over 2,000 dollars in six days for a charity known as Change for Thanksgiving.

Each fourth period class aimed to raise the most money they could, with the top earner getting a pizza party. Rather than the top earner being who made the most money, it was whichever class had the most money per student.

The top three classes in the end were Mrs. Coates’s class, with a total of $285.27, Mr. McFeely’s class with a total of $190.53, and Mr. Hanlon’s class with a total of $327.21.

As stated by the system above, Mrs. Coates had the most amount of money per student, which explains her first place position over Mr. Hanlon’s class. There are only eighteen students in Mrs. Coates fourth period class, which averages to about $15.85 dollars a student. Mr. Hanlon’s fourth period class on the other hand had thirty-one students, averaging to only about $10.56 a student.

The program aims to help cover the cost of Thanksgiving dinner for less fortunate families who reside within the district. The program was started by former Dean of Students Mr. Ceh, then carried on by his predecessor Mr. Wildrick, and has now been taken up by current Dean of Students, Mr. Ron Butschle.

Every morning, Dean Butschle was on the announcements to list the top three leading classes, finishing off with a profound and hysterical Thanksgiving-themed joke.

“I think that being generous is something that should be done not just in a season, but should be part of our lives daily. It is a great opportunity to be generous right here in our school,” Dean Butschle said on the importance of the program.

The earnings shows undoubtedly that the students of Seneca Valley felt very strongly about the program. As Mr. Hanlon put it, “The students were very generous, and they did what they did because they knew it was for a good cause.”

One such example is 11th grader Grant Alexander, a student in Mr. Hanlon’s fourth period class, who on the first day of donations put forth fifty entire dollars for his class. He said that he had won the money from a friend in a bet, and decided that he didn’t need it as much as a poorer family might. He gave money everyday of the drive, donating a total of 103 dollars at the end of the six days, almost a third of the donations his class had in all.

“Charity is a great thing,” Alexander stated. “Not only it help a lot of people who need it, it also brings communities together.”

The strong performance in this year’s Change for Thanksgiving drive will allow for numerous families in need of a helping hand to enjoy their holiday season. And it is all thanks to the altruistic effort put forth by the SV students.