By: Finley Huneycutt, Shield Editor, and Shield Staff
From October 9 to 27, North Raleigh Christian Academy partnered with Addis Jemari for the annual schoolwide community service project. NRCA families brought in rubber-soled sneakers to donate. Addis Jemari, in partnership with GotSneakers, will consign or recycle the old sneakers to earn money for each pair. Dollars earned will go to purchase shoes for students in Ethiopia.
“The heart behind schoolwide service projects is to not only foster an environment here at NRCA of a heart for serving those around us, but our hope is that our students, when they eventually leave NRCA and go off into other parts of the world, that this heart for serving those in their community will continue to shine through and that as they grow older, they will seek out opportunities to meet the needs of the people around them,” said Campus Life Director Joshua Leonard.
NRCA strives to help those around the community and, in this case, those in other countries. The schoolwide community service project had strong participation from all division levels—elementary, middle, and high schools.
“One of the things I love about NRCA is that our students especially have a true heart for serving,” said Leonard. As a whole, NRCA students demonstrate their desire to do above and beyond, whether helping someone, helping with something at school, or going out in the community to serve. Whether or not the students are ever able to see the benefits in person, they learn that helping those around them could have a great impact on those in the communities they serve.
Each year, NRCA partners with different organizations that reach out with concerns or needs for their specific foundation. This year, Addis Jemari asked for help fundraising to purchase shoes as part of their work in Ethiopia. “Addis Jemari is a longtime partner of NRCA…so this was an opportunity where they made us aware of the need that they had of bringing in shoes, which would allow them to purchase shoes for children and students in Ethiopia,” said Leonard.
Thanks to the amazing NRCA community, the school was able to donate 2,736 pairs of sneakers for consignment or recycling, raising funds for school shoes for Addis Jemari’s partner students in Ethiopia.
