With a string of 2020 winter holidays rapidly approaching, student groups from West begin to take on new leadership roles to brighten the season for those in need. The elected, member-led Student Council and the student-led Rotary Club are leading the way in giving back to the community.

Junior Jarrett Schiedemeyer, the A-day Public Relations Officer, is very familiar with the goals and mission of the Student Council.

“Student Council is in charge of multiple events throughout the school year,” he said. “We bring the student’s voices to the administration as well as bring West into the community.”

The Student Council group recently picked up their annual partnership with the Boys and Girls Club ‘Adopt-a-Family’ holiday program to spread more holiday cheer. Alexandra Fischer, Development and Marketing Coordinator of the Boys and Girls Club, handles the logistics of the program.

“We have the parents fill out wish lists for the kids,” she said. “From there, we reach out to community members and donors and match them with a family they’d like.”

These wish lists consist of basic needs for the children such as clothing sizes, shoe sizes, and some of the basic necessities for cold winters. Although the majority of gifts on the wish lists are needs, the children are given the opportunity to ask for specific presents as well.

“At the bottom of the list we have a couple spots where the family can write what the children might want,” Fischer said. “Things like toys, board games, video games, and stuff that they necessarily wouldn’t get in their households or within their families.”

The program aims to purchase gifts for families who are unable to afford Christmas gifts for their children. Fischer has worked with many families that are in the all-too-common situation many parents are facing this holiday season.

“These are families who are already working two to three jobs, just trying to make ends meet,” she said. “Being able to afford those extra ‘wants’ for Christmas is not always possible. We find those families and contact them.”

No matter how difficult or crazy the year, the Boys and Girls Club continues to support families through the holiday season and hopes to put their minds a little bit at ease.

“The main point of the program is to make sure that our families get their needs met for Christmas,” Fischer said. “The families are grateful for anything that they get. Our club really focuses on fulfilling the basic needs to our families in Oshkosh.”

Not only does the Boys and Girls club have an enormous impact on the community, but it makes students and volunteers like Schiedemeyer feel a sense of fulfillment when they give back.

“Being able to provide Christmas gifts and things that families actually need for their family really makes an impact on their lives as well as ours,” he said. “For me, it makes me feel positive that I’m doing something to help somebody else out.”

Patrick Bertram, a Student Council advisor, tries to help out in any way possible and encourages others to do the same, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If you have the opportunity or ability to, you should try to help out the members of your community,” he said. “Because ideally, if you would ever be in a similar situation, somebody could help you too.”

Fischer wants students to become more aware and grateful of the things they are fortunate enough to have.

“Not everyone is lucky enough to get all their wants for Christmas like toys and board games or the newest iPhone accessory,” she said. “Some families and youth are just grateful to have their basic needs met, and that’s enough for them. I hope students learn that a little bit of giving goes a really long way and that you don’t always need the best of the best.”

Volunteering with the Student Council has opened Schiedemeyer’s eyes to the situations others are in, a lesson he will take with him for the rest of his life.

“Volunteering has made me more aware of how privileged I am, and how I can use what I have to help others that maybe are not as fortunate as I am,” he said. “I really hope that new members can take this as a really positive thing, and they understand the impact they have made on these families.”

Schiedemeyer feels much gratitude towards the community which has inspired him to give back.

“The community gives so much to West and the Student Council organization,” he said. “So it feels good when we can give back to the community and help out a family in need and spread the Christmas spirit.”

While the Student Council takes charge in helping the community give gifts for the holidays, the Rotary Club makes strides in providing meals during Thanksgiving. Senior Public Relations Officer Ciarra Prill has been volunteering at Zion Lutheran church for many years through the Rotary Club.

“The event that goes on at Zion Lutheran during Thanksgiving is centered around food,” she said. “This year we served food to the refugees and indigeonous people. A couple of us were helping serve food, and a couple people were watching little kids while their families ate.”

As an officer, Prill knows the basics of the Rotary club duty spectrum and other partnerships they have during the holiday season.

“It’s a student run organization,” she said. “We try to help as much as we can in the community, so we try to reach out to different organizations, non-profits, and businesses organizations in Oshkosh. We try to help them with different events like we just helped them with Thanksgiving events, and for Christmas we have a bunch of events to do with different organizations in Oshkosh.”

The Rotary club also volunteered at Father Carr’s to help out the community. Senior Rotary Club President John Rowe has a great experience helping out.

“At Father Carr’s, I was with a group of students and we were directing traffic,” he said. “Everyone was very kind there and it’s a great place to interact with people and really make some change in the community. We were handing out meals to people as they drove by and we were maintaining coronavirus precautions. We were staying safe but still giving back is really cool that we can do that during this time.”

At first glance, these dinners may seem like an easy task, but there is more that goes on behind the scenes. Prill has encountered many challenges during the process of finding events.

“There have definitely been obstacles with finding in-person events,” she said. “I know throughout the semester we have tried to contact different organizations, asking if they need help. There have been many organizations and businesses that have responded and said they aren’t hosting a lot of events this year which is difficult for a lot of people but we’re trying to make the best of it.”

Even though COVID-19 has made organizing events more difficult than ever before, Rowe has been finding ways to overcome these challenges.

“I would say it’s been harder because we have had to cancel a number of events this year, but we have to always be on our toes and always be creative and there’s always someone in need in our community,” he said. “We always have to adapt to certain circumstances in order to meet those needs.”

Although volunteering at this time can sometimes come with challenges, the students both agree that overcoming these obstacles in order to help others is what is important.

“It’s really nice to share the opportunities that you have,” she said. “We can afford our own dinner for Thanksgiving, so it’s really nice to help people in the community who don’t have those same opportunities. When volunteering, you get to know a lot about different people and you get to know a lot about their lives.”

Rowe enjoys interacting with everyone and hearing their personal lessons. Through his experience as a volunteer, he has learned a critical lesson - a simple message that he hopes everyone will remember.

“There are always people in need,” he said. “If you ever have the ability to help others, I believe that you should.”

By Hannah Chung and Abby Furcy

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 3

December 11th, 2020

West Students Give Back to Make Meet Holiday Needs for Those Less Fortunate