The goal was never to do chores. NJHS is built on service, not busy work.
That’s the view that our NJHS chapter at Mount Jordan Middle School in Sandy, UT, started the school year with. We wanted to do something bigger than ourselves. Something bigger than our group of 80 students and two advisers. Everything started with a simple goal: Make an impact.
The students in NJHS united under a single cause: puppies. Through plenty of brainstorming, we found a way to combine our goal of leaving our mark and helping animals. But we still needed a way to raise the money we wanted to be able to donate.
Leveraging a shared interest in fitness, we adopted a fundraising model like a fun run. Students would collect sponsors and earn money for every pound they deadlifted or lap they ran. The result of our shared ideas and ideals was “Pounds for Puppies.” A simple goal turned into something more exciting and grand than we ever imagined.
When the day finally came last May, we were ready to pull off amazing things. The gym was buzzing with shared hope and excitement.
Throughout the event, students spent two straight hours running laps and lifting weights. The best part was what was happening around the students who were running or weightlifting. We had set up Humane Society-themed activities, like an obstacle course, a memory matching game, and a dog treat cornhole. People were able to come into the gym and enjoy understanding what our goal was in a fun and unique way. Our work spread even further than just us and the Humane Society because of it. People were interacting with each other and learning about our cause via fun activities.
In the days leading up to the event, donations came in from family, neighbors, and friends. Our message and our work spread further with every cent we collected. By the end of the day, we had raised over $2,000. Every single dollar was donated to the Humane Society of Utah.
In the end, we had pulled off exactly what we wanted to. We transformed the gym into a place of community; a room united under a single cause. Our passion led us to build connections with the community in ways not typically expected of middle schoolers. It was as much about the work we did and the message we spread as it was about the money.
Donations don’t mean anything unless you have a reason to give, and we gave people a reason. We stepped into leadership positions, putting ourselves out there for the sake of making a meaningful difference.
The impact this project has had on the students who helped make it happen is extremely apparent. To this day, our adviser still gets emails from the Humane Society mentioning the things our donations made possible. It was amazing to see what we were able to accomplish. Witnessing what we could pull off as a group when given the agency and resources was incredible.
Even beyond the Humane Society, we made an impact for ourselves. There were eighth graders in NJHS I never would have thought to talk to, but now? I know all their names by heart. Some of my closest friends were part of NJHS with me, and that made our friendship even stronger. We ultimately built a community around our shared ambition and ideals, and we made an impact.
