Seniors Forgo Grad Trip Abroad to Donate Funds to Community

• It has been a tradition for the seniors of Islesboro’s Central School to raise funds for a once-in-a-lifetime graduation trip abroad.
• The Class of 2021 had hoped to travel to Greece, Japan, or South Korea, but the pandemic happened.
• So they decided to donate the travel funds to their community fund, vaccination clinics, and other charities.

The graduating students of Islesboro’s Central School traditionally hold fundraising events to finance a once-in-a-lifetime trip abroad. But this year, the school’s seniors decided to give back to the community instead.

The tight-knit community in the Maine island of Islesboro is made up of only 700 permanent residents.

The graduating class of this year had only 13 students, and it was a larger class than usual. Joining eight students who resided on the island were five who hailed from the mainland.

Following previous graduates’ tradition of raising funds for foreign travel, the Class of 2021 had already raised nearly $8,000 in donations. Former graduates had traveled to prime destinations such as Paris, Iceland, Norway, and Panama.

But as the graduates were hoping to travel to Greece, Japan, or South Korea, the pandemic happened. The seniors decided to cancel their travel plans and just spend the funds for the betterment of their community.

One of the seniors, 18-year-old Liefe Temple, said that the group felt that indulging in the luxury of foreign travel seemed selfish amid the struggles that the pandemic placed upon their community.

Liefe told the Associated Press, “We could really see how the whole world and the island, too, was struggling. So it felt really good to do that with our money—to give it back to the people who gave it to us.”

The Island Community Fund received the bulk of the students’ funds. This will help residents whose livelihoods were severely impacted over the past year.

Some of the money was donated to COVID-19 vaccination clinics, while the rest will go to other philanthropic causes.

“There [is] a strong sense of pride in these students,” Community Fund president Fred Thomas told AP. “That’s because their decision demonstrated an awareness of the hardship in their community and a willingness to do something about it.”

The pandemic drastically impacted lives all over the world. It has definitely shifted the perspective of most people when it comes to spending money.

Hopefully, most will follow the selfless vision of Isleboro’s Senior Class of 2021. Our community, wherever we are, could definitely use any help we could extend.

Source: Good News Network