Lethbridge Collegiate Institute receives funding boost for Ecuador school on WE day

Students from Lethbridge Collegiate Institute received some special recognition in Calgary this week.

Twenty-six students from Lethbridge travelled to Calgary for the annual Free the Children WE Day celebration where they were told their fundraising efforts had been matched.

For four years, LCI students have been raising money to build a school in Ecuador. The $10,000 price tag was daunting but slowly the student-run Association to Kill Apathy raised $5,000 by running a concession stand and hosting bake sales and bottle drives.

Calgary-based Boardwalk Rental Communities heard of LCI’s efforts and donated the remaining $5,000 to meet its $10,000 goal.

“I’m so incredibly grateful for this company for stepping up and giving us the money,” Grade 12 student organizer, Emma McLeod, said.

“It’s amazing. It’s my last year and we were able to tie it all together and actually build a school.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's amazing. It's my last year and we were able to tie it all together and actually build a school."

McLeod added that she feels grateful that she and her classmates will be able to provide other students with the same opportunities they have had to get an education.

“People in different parts of the world don’t have access to a school,” LCI Social Studies teacher, David Fletcher, said. “To actually have a school cements the importance of education, and if we look at the pillars of development, education is at the forefront of addressing all the pillars of development, so I think this is the most tangible thing that we can do to help address different issues facing different parts of the world.”

The group is excited to learn more about the community where the school will be built and hopes to partner with the school in future.

It has also been tasked with the important job of naming the new school.