BHS students ring bells to raise money, visit seniors
By Alex Johnson
Correspondent
Raising more than $2,000 in one day, the Burlington High School student group known as DRIVEN went into the community ringing bells for donations and visited Arbor View Senior Living home to bring holiday spirit to the residents.
Led by BHS teacher Matt Nie, the group of 150-plus made the event the single largest day of bell ringing in Love, Inc. history bringing in one-third of all donations for the season on the one day.
Students visiting Arbor View Senior Living played bingo with residents, sang Christmas carols, and helped residents decorate their doors for the holiday.
“We’re here to spread the Christmas cheer wherever we can,” said BHS senior Grace Boyle. “A lot of it is just giving back to the community.”
Students who rang bells this winter were at eight different locations around Burlington, from Love Inc. to Gooseberries, Walmart, McDonald’s and Pick ‘n Save.
At Arbor View, the group also helped residents paint their nails, make ornaments, and just talk with residents for the day.
Jordan McCarthy, a nursing assistant at Arbor View, spoke about the effect the students have on the people she helps every day.
“They don’t really get that many visitors sometimes so little things like this brings a smile to their face,” she said. “They just like seeing the kids, they really do. They love it.”
The students of DRIVEN – which stands for Desire, Responsibility, Inspiration, Vision, Empowerment, and New Birth – host and operate events throughout the school of the year, raising money and awareness wherever they can.
Started eleven years ago “with a commitment to improve the school and the community, DRIVEN began as an organization to help freshman get used to high school life”, said founding advisor Matt Nie, “and it ballooned into this organization where we do a bunch of community service projects.”
This past year students ran a summer clothing drive at Dyer Elementary School, and also held its annual Easter egg hunt in the spring with over 14,000 eggs for over 1,000 children to find, the largest hunt in Wisconsin.
The students of DRIVEN also make an impact at Burlington High School, holding orientation events for new freshman, offering freshman advisories and student mentoring for new or foreign exchange students.
To become a part of DRIVEN, students apply at the end of their freshman year in a lengthy application process requiring letters of recommendation and a 3.0 minimum GPA.
Finishing up the day around town and at Arbor View, Nie said that he was “Excited to help freshman, as well as the community at large.”
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