Holy Souls flooded with 3,000 acts of kindness with Raise Craze

Students sought donations from friends and family, came up with more than $54,000

Published: November 20, 2018

Our Lady of the Holy Souls students cover principal Nancy Handloser and vice principal Amber Bagby in silly string (photo at right) for surpassing their Raise Craze goal Oct. 19 during a school-wide assembly.

Our Lady of the Holy Souls School in Little Rock recently completed Arkansas’ first kindness-focused fundraising campaign called Raise Craze.

During the fundraiser, students went out and paid it forward by completing acts of kindness for others. During the first few weeks, the students completed more than 3,000 acts of kindness and raised more than $54,000.

“When we were brainstorming new fundraisers we thought Raise Craze looked like a pretty good one,” said Al Malzewski, Holy Souls PTO chairman of Raise Craze. “The more we looked at it, the more we realized it was a perfect fit with other programs and activities that we do during the year, and the lessons Holy Souls teaches the kids every day. Being kind to others and serving the community is at the core of our school. Seeing all of these kids come up with heartfelt and unique acts of kindness has been truly inspiring, and the support we have received from parents and the community has been overwhelming. Every day I have heard wonderful stories about how kids have gone above and beyond to help others and spread kindness. It has been an absolutely amazing program.”

Students did everything from picking up their neighbor’s trash to hosting a lemonade stand that bene?ted the local Humane Society and bringing baked goods and thank you cards to local firefighters. One student even decided to do a neighborhood food drive to benefit the local food bank. The theme “Kindness is Holy Souls” was shared on the school’s Facebook page.

In addition to individual acts of kindness, the school collaborated with a few local organizations in the area. Students were given opportunities during the week to decorate socks for a nursing home, pass out flowers to others around school, assist the Allen School across the street with different tasks and decorate the playground with messages in chalk.

The students celebrated the end of the campaign Oct. 19 with a school-wide assembly. During the celebration, principal Nancy Handloser, and vice principal Amber Bagby dyed their hair and were pelted with silly string for surpassing the goal.

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Click for the Catholic Schools Herald, November 2018 index