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On Friday, March 19, Lancaster Mennonite school celebrated their first annual World Changer Day, a day dedicated to caring, serving and giving. The creation of the event was inspired by their ‘Love Beyond Distances Day’ last spring (an event where students and faculty came up with creative ways to serve and love our community safely during a pandemic).
WORLD CHANGER DAY HIGHLIGHTS
Students, PreK-12th grade, made goodie bags for bus drivers, gift packs for nurses and patients in pediatric units, uplifting cards and videos for retirement communities, knotted quilts and packed hygiene kits for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and beautified their campuses. Their goal was to change someone’s world, if even for a day.
Over 300 donors also gave during this day to the school and raised over $31,000 to keep a Lancaster Mennonite education accessible to young world changers and their families -providing the opportunity to be part of a school community that values service, love, and compassion. Thank you to everyone who supported LM students in this important work, when we work together the future is bright!
STUDENT & TEACHER REFLECTIONS
See here reflections from students and teachers on how this day of service positively impacted them:
“I really enjoyed the activity [because] I felt like I was giving back to my community.” – 10th Grader
“Serving others made me feel more of a part of this world.” – 2nd Grader
“If we keep going on as we are now, the world will turn into trash. So I think people should pitch in and help.” – 5th Grader
“It reminded me of Jesus. He helped others and loved them. He served and took care of people. It made me a better person.” – 2nd Grader
“I really liked it. It was nice to have a set time to work to make a difference in the community.” – 11th Grader
“If you send notes to someone, you can spread smiles wherever the notes go.” – 2nd Grader
“When we all did a little, it made a big difference.” – 4th Grader
“I’m inspired by the idea of making these kids happy even if it’s only for a few minutes.” – 10th Grader
“I think that it’s important because it helps people, in many ways beyond physical things. It makes people feel more connected to the school and local community.” – 9th Grader
“I was inspired to do more for the community.” – 5th Grader
“Because by doing service we can change the world!” – 2nd Grader
“I felt good about it and I was really working hard on my cards because I felt like they needed some love in their life. You’ll feel happy when you make others happy.” – 2nd Grader
“Service is important to think about others. We can be so focused on ourselves and everything we want when there are others who aren’t as lucky.” – 10th Grader
“Because it shows you humility, and it helps others.” – 10th Grader
“It feels good helping other people.” – 3rd Grader
“Everything is better working with a team.” – 9th Grader
“Even though we’re young, we can encourage and help others.” – Kindergarten Teacher
“I learned that you don’t need to get a prize to be happy. Helping others makes you happy.” – 2nd Grader
“It makes me want to serve more people, and I know that’s what God wants.” – 3rd Grader
“Serving others reminds me that the small amount of time I devote to others is nothing compared to what God has done for us.” – 9th Grader
“It helps me to understand that others may have hardships. When I have hardships, I think of myself, but others have hardships also and it is important to think of others.” – 2nd Grader
“I felt that I was doing what Jesus did and I felt closer to him.” – 2nd Grader
“It was really special to see the care my students put into making the cards for the residents at Fairmount Homes. Even though they didn’t know the people who would receive their cards, I was moved by how much thought and time they put into writing their messages and decorating the cards in order to spread joy.” – 2nd Grade Teacher
“[Doing service] reminded me of the book we read called Refugee. In it there are many refugees who don’t have enough. I was inspired to help more.” – 6th Grader
“(World Changer Day was) good and fun! We got to make stuff for other people!” – 2nd Grader
“I was happy to help clean the Makerspace room. When we all did a little, it made a big difference.” – 4th Grader
“I’m inspired by the idea of making these kids happy even if it’s only for a few minutes.” – 10th Grader
“I think that it’s important because it helps people, in many ways beyond physical things. It makes people feel more connected to the school and local community.” – 9th Grader
“It can save people’s lives. We would want others to do the same for us if we were in the same situation.” – 2nd Grader
“Because by doing service we can change the world!” – 2nd Grader
“I felt good about it and I was really working hard on my cards because I felt like they needed some love in their life. You’ll feel happy when you make others happy.” – 2nd Grader
“Service is important to think about others. We can be so focused on ourselves and everything we want when there are others who aren’t as lucky.” – 10th Grader
“Because it shows you humility, and it helps others.” – 10th Grader
“It feels good helping other people.” – 3rd Grader
“Everything is better working with a team.” – 9th Grader
“Even though we’re young, we can encourage and help others.” – Kindergarten Teacher
“I learned that you don’t need to get a prize to be happy. Helping others makes you happy.” – 2nd Grader
“I learned that no matter what you do, you can make a difference.” – 2nd Grader
“Cards are just cards but when you really work hard on them and take all of your time on them they can turn out to be really nice. On most of our cards we said things like ‘don’t forget to smile’ and ‘you can change the world’ so making cards was important to do because some people don’t know those things. It made me happy to give someone else joy and it would make them happy if they can give joy to another friend.” – 2nd Grader
“That I am good at helping others and it’s actually fun!” – 3rd Grader
“I learned how easy and good my life has been. I might think having a bad day is hard but these kids live in pain every day.” – 10th Grader
“It makes me want to serve more people, and I know that’s what God wants.” – 3rd Grader
“Jesus helped people, so us helping people is like trying to be like God.” – 9th Grader
“Serving others reminds me that the small amount of time I devote to others is nothing compared to what God has done for us.” – 9th Grader
“It helps me to understand that others may have hardships. When I have hardships, I think of myself, but others have hardships also and it is important to think of others.” – 2nd Grader
“I felt that I was doing what Jesus did and I felt closer to him.” – 2nd Grader
“Jesus did it and it’s helping God’s creation.” – 3rd Grade
“It was really special to see the care my students put into making the cards for the residents at Fairmount Homes. Even though they didn’t know the people who would receive their cards, I was moved by how much thought and time they put into writing their messages and decorating the cards in order to spread joy.” – 2nd Grade Teacher
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS!
- Giant Food Stores- Twitter: @GiantFoodStores Instagram: @giant
- Target – Twitter: @Target Instagram: @target
- Beiler’s Doughnuts – Twitter: @beilersdonuts Instagram: @ beilersdoughnuts
