A group of Sunset Park Public School students took to shovelling neighbour's sidewalks and driveways to raise over $1,800 for humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
The grade 6 French immersion class of 11 and 12-year-olds did the work over three days in exchange for a donation for humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
"They did an amazing job and should be proud of their contributions," their teacher Mme Anna Pearson told BayToday.
The shovelling raised $900 and was matched by the Government of Canada to reach $1,800.
The idea was a class project.
"We had been talking about the situation in Ukraine and the students had a lot of questions," said Pearson. "My students were trying to understand what it was like for someone their age to have to leave their home as a refugee. They are really aware of what is going on."
They included if Canada was going to go to war, questions about NATO and why would Putin invade Ukraine.
So they put their heads together to see how they could help.
"We thought, 'what's more Canadian than starting a snow shovelling challenge?'" she chuckled.
The students were very excited she says, coming in every morning and telling her how much money they had raised. Residents were happy to donate.
"We challenged other schools and kids to also raise money to send to Ukraine."
Silver Birches responded, raising another $1,000. Another school in Lakefield Ont. took the challenge and raised $400.
"It's nice to see it spreading," said Pearson.
Have you joined our #shovellingchallenge ? We challenge you to join us!!!!
