Severna Park Students Serve Their Community

This year’s group of Severna Park High School Leadership Institute III students capped a three-year commitment by partnering with charitable organizations for service projects. Led by teachers Elizabeth Colon and Heather Barnstead, students learned about needs in their communities while becoming more effective leaders with the following projects.

Changing The Lives Of Cancer Patients

Covenant Akinremi and Emma Turk

Personal experiences inspired Covenant Akinremi and Emma Turk to help cancer patients through Kits4Kindness. Akinremi was hospitalized for a few days due to sleep apnea and needed surgery at ages 3 and 11. Turk was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 7 and had to wear a full-time brace until 14 while attending numerous appointments. Both girls understood the immense stress that medical treatment can bring.

Finding Sonia Su and her nonprofit organization Kits to Heart was the perfect way for them to get involved. Su’s organization collects items that improve the mental health of cancer patients.

On October 25, Akinremi and Turk partnered with the Wishing Crane Project to make origami, which was in low stock at Kits to Heart. About 15 students folded colored paper to make fun origami creations. Akinremi and Turk collected 25 origami during a 30-minute period. On December 6, Kits4Kindness partnered with Science National Honors Society to make “care bear” towels. Akinremi informed the students about how cancer affects the world while Turk handed out washcloths, rubber bands, scissors, ribbon and tutorial sheets. Fifty care bear towels were constructed in a 30-minute period.

Akinremi and Turk donated $210 to Kits to Heart. Kits4Kindness created 50 handwritten letters with help from the members. Both girls enjoyed advocating for the mental health of cancer patients from September through January.

Battling Childhood Homelessness

Natalie Frank and Josie Garrett

Seniors Natalie Frank and Josie Garrett hosted a blanket-making event in collaboration with their school's Key Club, creating 10 fleece-tie blankets. The blankets were donated to Binky Patrol, an organization dedicated to supporting foster and homeless youth. With the club’s help, Frank and Garrett advanced Binky Patrol’s mission and provided much-needed support to marginalized children.

Along with creating blankets, their project aimed to raise $450 to donate and to collect $75 worth of fabric and yarn for Binky Patrol. With the support of their community, they successfully achieved these goals.

Fighting Against Food Insecurity

Angelica Coleman and Caden Lazzor

Coleman and Lazzor partnered with the local nonprofit organization Services From The Heart (SFTH), which assists students in Anne Arundel County who are facing food insecurity. These meals mainly go to Title I schools: Hilltop Elementary, Belle Grove Elementary, Rippling Woods Elementary and Eastport Elementary.

SFTH was founded in 2013 by Donna Wilson-Johnston, a concerned Severna Park mother. When SFTH began, the group fed 19 children; it has since expanded to help 122 children.

This organization is heavily reliant on volunteers, who spend Friday mornings packing items for students to eat over the weekend, which Coleman and Lazzor did. They named their project Supplies4Success to highlight how important food is to fuel a successful student. With the help of a small group of underclassmen, they dedicated their time to biweekly meal-packing, setting up a food drive and collecting monetary donations.

Taking On Education Inequality

Lily Diedrich and Charley Coward

This fall, a group of Severna Park students led by Lily Diedrich and Charley Coward partnered with the Cisco Center to provide a positive learning environment for children with special needs. The girls hosted a cleanup event, raised money, and collected adaptive equipment from donors.

Located in Severna Park, the Cisco Center is a school for individuals with cognitive disabilities, speech or language impairments, and autism. The girls’ project was sparked by Diedrich’s prior involvement with the center. Coward and Diedrich’s clean-up event transformed the Cisco Center’s environment, and their fundraising efforts will help the center with repairs and upgrading equipment.

Both girls said their project refined their skills: team management, adaptability and communication.

Supporting Orphan Grain Train

Alethia Brown and Jessica Bui

For their capstone project, Brown and Bui created Railroad to Remedy in partnership with Orphan Grain Train (OGT), a Christian nonprofit that gathers needed items to send to people in the U.S. and around the world.

Brown and Bui had three goals: to volunteer for eight hours, to fundraise $280 and to collect $200 worth of medical equipment donations. By the end of the semester, they exceeded all three goals by volunteering for 15 hours, fundraising $360 and collecting $315 worth of donations.

Brown and Bui chose to work with OGT in their junior year because of Bui’s interest in the medical field and Brown’s Christian beliefs. While volunteering, the girls encountered people coming to the warehouse while seeking mobility aids. This sparked their interest in launching a medical equipment donation drive to help the nonprofit’s mission to serve others.

Empowering Iraqi Children

Isabella Opladen and Maya Vernugopal

Severna Park community members joined seniors Isabella Opladen and Maya Vernugopal in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park on September 28 for the annual fundraising 5K hosted by the Iraqi Children Foundation (ICF). Following the 5K, which raised over $23,000, Opladen and Vernugopal raised money and brought a guest speaker to their high school.

On January 15, John Opladen attended a virtual meeting to speak to students who were interested in learning more about the ICF. As a veteran and the veteran outreach director for the organization, he used his experiences in Iraq and with the ICF to educate Severna Park students.

The girls chose to work with the Iraqi Children Foundation because of its support for the education of young people, especially girls. Close to 800,000 children are orphaned in Iraq and require support to grow and thrive; the ICF dutifully provides this support. With their project, the Iraqi Children’s Initiative, $270 was raised for the Iraqi Children Foundation.

Encouraging Holiday Smiles

Becca Jimeno and Sammy Madarang

Jimeno and Madarang led a group of underclassmen in their partnership with Orphan Grain Train to spread awareness of the importance of hygiene for people all around the world. Orphan Grain Train is a Christian nonprofit that ships donated food, clothing and other supplies to 71 countries. The organization started in 1992 and has grown over the last 30 years; however, the roots of Christianity are still the core of the organization.

Jimeno and Madarang raised funds for hygiene kits. With the help of their family and friends, they raised over $450, enough to purchase materials for 32 kits, and even had $215 left to donate to Orphan Grain Train.

Helping Ronald McDonald House

Jake Sobocinski and Sam Blake

This duo worked to raise money, collect donations and create kindness cards for families with sick children so they will have a safe home near medical care.

Ronald McDonald House Charities was founded in 1974 to support the families of children in Philadelphia hospitals. The charities have expanded to numerous cities, including Baltimore.

Sobocinski and Sam Blake planned to raise $300, collect $250 worth of donations and write 50 uplifting cards. These goals were met with the help of two sophomore leadership students and donations from the Severna Park community.

Gearing Up Greatness

Theo Skopp and Keaghan Gorski

Skopp and Gorski completed a project to support Leveling the Playing Field, a nonprofit dedicated to giving underprivileged children the opportunity to enjoy youth sports. Through their efforts, the students raised $290, along with over $3,000 worth of sports equipment to benefit local youth programs. The project focused on fostering community engagement and promoting equitable access to sports. Over the past year, the students organized this initiative, including voicing their mission in their neighborhoods and reaching out to the community for donations of gently used sports equipment.

Students Against Food Insecurity

Gillian Bean and Avery Serpa

Bean and Serpa led a group of students to volunteer at the Anne Arundel County Food Bank. Together, they organized food donations, packed boxes of cans and other necessities, and sorted boxes into stacks. Their work made it easier to deliver needed goods to county residents who are struggling.

The girls said they created their community service project, Food for Thought, because food insecurity is not only a global problem, but it also heavily affects people on a smaller scale.

In addition to volunteering, the girls raised almost $600, close to doubling their goal, and collected over $150 worth of cans and necessities.

Connecting Communities

Ty Miller and Reily Miller

The Miller team held “Christmas In Marydel,” bringing Christmas toys, clothes, food and other necessities and presents to Immaculate Conception Church in Marydel, located in Caroline County, Maryland.

After volunteering regularly at Happy Helpers For The Homeless during the summer, the rising seniors helped over 330 people living in a condemned trailer park by fundraising.

Their subsequent leadership project was a success, bringing the community 70 food baskets full of nutritious meals and snacks, over 50 bags, over 300 blankets, and a plethora of LEGOs, board games, electronics, and other toys, making sure everyone had a gift to bring home for Christmas. Since the community is heavily Spanish-speaking, Happy Helpers brought a multilingual Santa to give Christmas well-wishes and take pictures.

To accomplish their goals, the boys used online and in-person fundraising. All donations and supplies for the project were brought to Marydel, along with over 20 Happy Helpers volunteers who set up, organized, and distributed all food and clothing items.