The Ellerslie Old Scholars Give Back

Former students of Ellerslie Secondary School (now The Ellerslie School) recently held a reunion entitled Remember Dis: The Rebirth on Saturday, July 22, 2023. Clad in school uniform, they came together on this nostalgic evening to relive memories of school days as well as to pay homage to their former and current teachers and staff of that great institution.

This fundraiser was coordinated by old scholar, Vilma Bradshaw, along with a small committee, in an effort to render assistance to the most vulnerable Ellerslie families who were greatly affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic. In 2020, many parents became unemployed and this affected the students. The Guidance Counsellor, Deidre Wentt, asked Bradshaw if she could get some old scholars to donate food hampers to help some students and their families. An assessment showed that Ellerslie had approximately 60 vulnerable families.

“I sent out a message on the Ellerslie Old Scholars group on Facebook using the term “care packages” because we care. Attached was a list of basic food items in quantities per family based on a 4-person per family model. The cost of the list was an estimated $300. There was an overwhelming response. Some persons donated monetarily, some added items to their grocery lists and brought them to the School or dropped them off at my home and some simply gave what they had from their pantries. So we used the money to purchase items to compensate for what we didn’t receive.” Bradshaw indicated that this initiative occurred on three separate occasions in 2020, once in 2021 and once in 2022, but at most, they could only reach 35 out of the 60 families. She added that since 2020, some of the parents informed the School that they had been re-employed and expressed thanks for the help, however, as children graduated and new arrivals came, there was still a great need.

Last year, in conversation with the Acting Principal, Stacia Austin, it was borne out that we hadn’t reach the full gamut of families in need and that the only way they could possibly succeed is with a fundraiser. Bradshaw informed the Principal about their most successful reunion to date which had died in 2012 and with that, plans were initiated to bring about a rebirth of said reunion. “To reach all 60 families we would need at least $20,000 net profit, $18,000 for the groceries plus $2,000 for incidentals (clothes baskets, reels of cellophane, reels ribbon, etc.). If we received more than that, the money would roll over to the next year to provide for another set of families.”

Although the event captured hundreds of patrons, Bradshaw had wished for more attendees. “We have some specially invited guests along with paying patrons, but we had hoped for more because after our overheads, unfortunately, I don’t see us being able to accomplish our goal. We would have to do something else, but that would have to be discussed with favour from our Principal, but we remained committed to assisting vulnerable Ellerslie families with care packages which are usually distributed early in December.”

Music was provided by Omar “DJ Chilly” Jordan, also an old scholar. A surprise guest performance by Eric Lewis from Madd Entertainment sent the crowd wild as he performed his latest song live for the first time, “I Want My Mudda”. This song was inspired by the recent attempted robbery of ZR driver, Marlon “Fatman” Tempro, who, coincidentally, is also an old scholar of The Ellerslie School. (Write Right PR Services)