In the hopes of providing warmth to some of the less fortunate this winter, Stuco has been doing a coat and jacket drive. There are boxes sitting near the commons area for students, teachers and members of the community to drop off gently used coats and jackets. They also collected coats at the basketball game Jan. 16. Stuco sponsor Callie Bartelson says Stuco needed a service project for this semester and decided on the coat drive.

“There’s been a lot of schools and places doing coat drives lately, and we thought it was something we could do,” Mrs. Bartelson said.

Stuco contacted the local Mission Mart and Friends of Friends to see where the coats could be used. They also contacted the local elementary schools to see if there are any children in need of a winter coat. Stuco wants to reach out to more than our community, however, so they are hoping to donate coats to some outlets in Wichita as well.

The committee consists of six Stuco members: seniors Dustin Martin, Danica Mercer and Jerod Mies; junior Derek Pauly; and sophomores Bre Akiu and Janae Pauly.

“I enjoy being on the committee,” Akiu said. “It’s a good cause, and I like that we’re trying to get people some coats.”

Mrs. Bartelson said the group is hoping for a good outcome. They are hoping to collect some coats and maybe help those locally as well as donate to other places. Members of the committee agree that they hope to have a good turnout.