NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High eighth-graders recently spent their semester researching and learning about the work that Berkshire nonprofits do in the community. 

 

The course was a program of the Nonprofit Center of the Berkshires, "Philanthropy in Schools." The students researched what they were passionate about and found the organizations that aligned with their passion. They wrote an essay and presented a persuasive speech to convince their classmate to vote for their organization to receive a monetary donation.

 

Founder Liana Toscanini started the program in 2020 as a way to introduce young minds to community service and understanding what nonprofit organizations can accomplish. 

 

"I created this program actually, because my parents made me volunteer for everything. And so I had the opportunity to know what nonprofits are, to know what it feels like to volunteer and give back," Toscanini said Tuesday morning, after the students had presented essays at the school. 

 

"And I thought today, so many parents are working, you know, and maybe don't have the luxury of modeling that behavior. And so I thought it would be great for middle school students, specifically, which is a very impressionable age, to have the same opportunities that I had to get a little bit involved, figure out what their passions were, and become kind of mini philanthropists."

 

The Drury High is the first school in North County to adopt the program. The eighth-grade civics teacher David Demary taught the course and helped the students with their presentations.

 

"Just watching these kids interact and find stuff locally and contribute has been very uplifting," he said.

 

The students were provided with $1,000 from Greylock Federal Credit Union and anonymous donors to give to charity. 

 

The class decided on two organizations, Child Care of the Berkshires and the AYJ Fund, giving each one $500.

 

"We wanted to do it [Child Care of the Berkshires] because we liked children and especially like volunteering for children and we think that overall Child Care of the Berkshires is just a good cause for the community and can help a lot of people so we chose it," said student Roan Kane. "It's been a good experience. We would like to volunteer there maybe or just give our time to the community."

 

The AYJ Fund, founded by Joe and Kathy Arabia in memory of their late daughter, Anna Yan Ji Arabia, has raised more than $1.3 million for child cancer research and helps local families with children suffering from cancer. 

 

"When I was younger my uncle had cancer and he was in the hospital for a long time and my mom had to go live with him," student Jayden Cote said. "When I found that out when I was younger, I've always had a passion on donating and helping people with cancer and when I found out about the AYJ Fund I knew I really wanted to donate to them when I had the opportunity."

 

State Rep. John Barrett III also spoke to the class and mentioned how great it was to see kids being able to touch the lives of people they may never know and how important it is to give back that they learned.