Students crowdfund $1 million for Mustard Seed Communities

 Students from the American International School of Kingston (AISK) donated $1 million to the Mustard Seed Communities through the institution’s Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) Project, which is a part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Program at AISK.

The combined efforts of 16 Grade-11 students and six Grade-12 students raised the funds and surpassed their initial target of $250,000.

“I’m proud of these students because they reimagined how to achieve their empowerment activity at Mary’s Child Home when they realised that their usual visits had to be halted due to the pandemic and they surpassed their initial target of $250,000 within three weeks,” said Executive Director Darcy Tulloch Williams, who led the project with the help of Tamara Tucker, assistant at Mustard Seed.

FUNDRAISING EFFORTS COMMENCED IN OCTOBER

The students have been in virtual contact with the staff and residents of Mustard Seed since September 2020. They commenced their fundraising efforts in mid-October and successfully quadrupled the target. Donations were made available online through the Mustard Seed Communities Donation Page, designed for AISK and cash/cheque donations handed in at the school.

AISK CAS Coordinator Rachael Boxill said: “A major element of the programme is for all students in grades 11 and 12 to do service which empowers the wider Kingston community and I am proud of the way they pivoted during this pandemic. They didn’t allow the inability to visit Mary’s Child to deter them from helping in whatever way they could.”