School bells are ringing and students are back in the classroom. The start of a new school year is a wonderful reminder of the creative ways students from preschool to 12th grade and faculty support Ronald McDonald House Pittsburgh Morgantown families throughout the year. Each act of kindness is an example of how kids of all ages put compassion into action to give families who are far from home a place to be together.

With some imagination and lots of passion, students are hosting really unique fundraisers to support families through the Projects of Passion (POP) program.

The Primrose School of Wexford hosted an Annual Spring Fling, a celebration of student creativity bringing families together at the school. The event supported Ronald McDonald House families, covering the cost of family stays.

Students in Mr. Dill’s class at Canon-McMillan High School wanted to make a meaningful impact in their community and chose to support Ronald McDonald House Pittsburgh Morgantown. The students took a field trip to Ronald McDonald House: Morgantown, where they toured the House, delivered snack bags, and helped make a meal for families staying there.

Inspired by the experience, the students organized a creative fundraising event back at school — a Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets eating contest. With generous support from the Canonsburg McDonald's restaurant, who donated all the food - 30 Big Macs and 250 Chicken McNuggets – the students raised enough funds to cover over 300 nights of stay for families.

Greensburg Salem Middle School Olympics is a favorite annual tradition where students purchase an Olympics T-shirt and compete in a variety of fun challenges to earn gold, silver, or bronze medals proudly worn on their lanyards. Each year proceeds from the T-shirt sales are donated to a charity selected by the student council officers. This year students chose Ronald McDonald House Pittsburgh Morgantown as the recipient. Siah, an 8^th grade student, shared why the cause is so important to her: “Ronald McDonald House helps families who travel from far away to get treatment for their sick kids. Without the help of the Ronald McDonald House, families wouldn’t be able to afford to come for treatment.”

A homemade meal goes a long way for Ronald McDonald House families, bringing comfort, nourishment and allowing them to spend more time at their child’s bedside.

Classical Conversations Communities are groups of local homeschooling families who meet once a week during the academic year to learn together. These students spent an afternoon fulfilling a very important need at the House, providing meals for the families. Their casual meal was enjoyed by everyone at the House — especially the delicious strawberry shortcake dessert!

From paper products to snacks to cleaning products to household items like pillows and laundry items, students from the Pittsburgh and Morgantown areas are gathering and bringing items that make the Houses a home.

The students from the West Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind helped fill the pantries at the Houses by making their annual Wish List donation. This year, the students came together to make their largest donation to date! Members of the original student group shared how meaningful the donation drive has become, noting that nearly every on-campus student participated in supporting the effort.

Students participating in Hartwood Elementary’s JAM (Be the Kind Kid) program had a special night with the important adults in their lives, creating snack bags for Ronald McDonald House families. Teacher Mrs. Papcunik applied for a special grant to help with the snack bag supplies to make it a fun event for the students. She has been working with the students to help support the Ronald McDonald House for nearly four years.

What is the value of Pull Tab? At Ronald McDonald House it means hundreds of nights of stay each year for families thanks to many school-sponsored collection drives.

Mrs. DeLuca continues to inspire! Each year, she leads her Montour High School students and Cure Finders group, along with help from kiddos in grades K–5 in the district, to come together by collecting Pull Tabs for the House.

Thanks to their teamwork and dedication, they filled an entire SUV with Pull Tabs. Several of the bags even contained over 10,000 tabs each. The tabs will be recycled and proceeds donated to Ronald McDonald House.

The 4th grade student council officers and representatives from North Star Central Elementary held a Pull Tab collection too, their teacher told us they look forward to this collection every year.