Students from Shawnee High School’s Lifting Up Camden’s Youth Club recently partnered with youth from LUCY, a Camden-NJ based nonprofit, to bring holiday festivities to Medford this season by offering photos with Santa and holding a wreath sale at Ironstone Village.
The event, planned by the LUCY Club, included basket auctions and light refreshments, all of which served as a teaching model for both LUCY Club members and LUCY Camden youth on how to manage a business, providing them with valuable work experience. This was the first fundraiser where Camden youth from LUCY met and worked alongside LUCY Club members from Shawnee.
The LUCY Club was started earlier this year by Cody Rommeihs, a junior at Shawnee High School who first got involved with LUCY while fundraising through the organization’s online wish list. Rommeihs started the LUCY club at Shawnee to raise money to support one of the wish list items. What started as a small club to support LUCY, has grown to a club of over 120 Shawnee students.
“This fundraiser was a great team effort from both LUCY youth as well as LUCY Club members,” said Kristin Prinn, executive director of LUCY Outreach. “It provided Camden youth with a way to gain work experience while also benefiting our program. Working alongside the LUCY club members from Shawnee allowed them to build relationships with other youth their age, as they worked toward a common goal together.”
Event proceeds will benefit LUCY, one of six ministries of St. Joseph’s Pro-Cathedral supported by The Joseph Fund that provides a safe place for Camden’s youth to gain valuable life skills, increase confidence and receive academic instruction and spiritual and social support.
For more information about LUCY Outreach, visit lucyoutreach.org or call (856) 964–9777.
