15
SERVICE AND SPIRIT · Torch: U.S. · Spring 2016
awesome. Riverbend High School in Virginia collected clothing, toys, and games through a project called Holiday Hope program. Riverbend also participated in the Virginia JCL coat drive and donated 37 coats, the most of any Virginia chapter. Finally, Riverbend decorated
157 winter holiday cards for kids staying in a local hospital. Flint Hill in Virginia celebrated Saturnalia by having students and teachers switch roles- what fun! The chapter also had a Secret Saturn to celebrate the holiday. Boston Latin School, the biggest JCL in the nation, sang Christmas carols at the Care One, which is a local senior citizen’s home. The chapter also helda bake sale in December to celebrate Saturnalia. The bake sale looked absolutely delicious!
State service and spirit has been wonderful as well. Wisconsin JCL hosted a unique athletic event known
as “Capture the
Helen”. Members
from Wisconsin
also ran an online
Mafia game in order
to have an early
celebration of the
Ides of March.
Maryland JCL had the
opportunity to host
monthly certamen
tournaments
complete with
costume contests,
Latin spelling bees,
Golden Apple Toss,
gladiator fighting,
Capture the Helen,
etc. The JCL also paid
homage to Saturnalia
by switching the roles of teacher and student, having the students moderate and the teachers play certamen. Their annual Latin language festival went well, filled with carnival games to promote the Classics. Louisiana participated in service as well by making sacked lunches, holding car washes, doing a Hunger Walk,and a Latin carol service. At the Fall Forum, the state collected 687 cans for a canned food drive. The three regions of Ohio, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Cleveland, each hold their own "Make a Difference Day" event in the fall. On Saturday, September 19th, 26 students in Columbus attended the Nationwide Children's' Hospital Pumpkinpalooza, helping run the event to raise funds for the inpatient rehabilitation center at the hospital. They spent the day monitoring kids in bounce houses and coloring with them. On October 25th, 13 Cleveland students celebrated the Classics at Cleveland City Mission, playing and coloring with kids 7-12 years old. On November 14th, 23 Cincinnati area students went to the California Woods Nature Preserve to mulch their holiday trails and destroy invasive honeysuckle. Also, 6 Cincinnati area students went to St. Vincent de Paul to organize coats from their annual coat drive on November 21st. Over the span of this season, the OJCL has contributed 446.5 hours to our local communities! In addition to our hours of community service, the OJCL held a test prep book drive. Florida also participated in a lot of service and activities. In October, the state went trick or treating and donated the candy to the Ronald McDonald House (over 40 pounds of candy). The state also collected 142 pounds of canned foods, donated money to Operation Gratitude, and wrote Letters to Soldiers. In November, Florida made 104 cards for letters to soldiers and 100 cards for children in a local
hospital. The
fundraiser at
Fall Forum
raised $225 to
donate to
LemonAid
Warriors and
Meals on
Wheels. In
December, each
region of
Florida held a
toy drive at
their Saturnalia
celebrations.
Over 50 toys
were collected
and donated
them to Toys for
Tots. They also
made about 10 cranes for Florida Hospital. Finally, Massachusetts had their first town events: Kickoff and Classics Day. Kickoff brought together the entire state and they launched catapults, painted pumpkins, played certamen, and attended workshops. At Classics day, over 800 students attended lecture style workshops by college professors, local teachers, and a national officer. Furthermore, there was a skit competition. Thank you for all of the dedication that you have shown to service and spirit thus far- I can’t wait to see what you all accomplish!