HANNAH Rahim, a Grade 9 student and organizer of the Digital Good Club at Mulgrave School, held the Last Great Canadian Penny Drive from Jan. 28 to Feb. 7 to raise awareness and funds to support the Half the Sky Movement.
She was inspired to support the cause after watching a documentary on PBS, she says. All pennies will be donated to the Somaly Mam Foundation, which is part of the Half the Sky Movement.
According to a press release, the Half the Sky movement seeks to put an end to the oppression of women and girls worldwide through a global media project that uses video, websites, blogs and games to raise awareness about gender issues and to provide concrete steps to empower women and girls.
Hannah hoped to put the historic end of the penny to good use and her hope was for everyone to have fun collecting their pennies, and to learn more about this important cause.
. . .
West Vancouver's Hilary Drake has been awarded a Bell Scholarship from Mount Allison University in Sackville, N.B.
Valued at $48,000 over four years, it's one of the largest and most prestigious entrance awards at the university and celebrates students who have demonstrated strong academic ability, leadership potential, volunteer work, extracurricular activities, work experience and good citizenship, according to a written statement.
Drake is a Rockridge secondary graduate.
. . .
North Vancouver rugby player Jess Neilson's second annual cleat drive in support of at-risk youths living in Bangkok slums recently wrapped and yielded 71 pairs.
Neilson, a Carson Graham secondary student, collected 80 pairs last year, bringing her grand total to 151. Cleats will be sent to the Nak Suu program in Thailand, run by former national team player Eddie Evans.
. . .
Sentinel secondary student Aliya-Nur Babul was recently awarded silver key awards in the Scholastic Art and Writing international competition, awarded in the personal essay/memoir, poetry and writing portfolio categories.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards are one of the most prestigious writing awards for youth and notable previous winners include Sylvia Plath, Joyce Carol Oates and Truman Capote.
More than 185,000 works of art and writing were submitted by students from around the world. The pieces of writing are judged based on personal vision, skill and originality.
Send details, along with your contact information, for our regular Noteworthy Neighbours section to [email protected].
