After a long break, my Project for Hope was able to continue in March of 2020. 
On Valentine’s day, February 14th, 2020, donations were collected from St. Mary High School in Rutherford, NJ. This was in part of a schoolwide dress down day where students could donate a bear or $5 to take part. 

All of the money went to the Kohl’s Cares program. At Kohl’s, stuffed animals can be purchased for $5. All proceeds go straight to families in need. I thought this would allow us to do the most good possible. Additionally, I would like to thank my local Kohl’s in Clifton, New Jersey as they went above and beyond in helping us. Since the shelves often only hold 20 stuffed animals at a time, the workers helped bring boxes upon boxes to the front for us to purchase. The manager was beyond overjoyed and allowed us to buy some at a discount. 

As many of you already know, lockdown began in March of 2020. However, one week before COVID became a threat to our everyday lives, we were able to complete this donation at Holy Name Medical Center. This would have been impossible had lockdown started any earlier.
Although this article is long overdue, I wanted to take the time to thank St. Mary’s High School for their help in my service project. The teachers, students, and staff were all very ecstatic regarding this project and went above and beyond to offer their help. 
I also want to thank my friends who volunteered to help unload all the donations. So a special thank you for Bryan Rivera, Ryan McMullin, and Selena Kossup for their help.

A special thank you to the staff at Holy Name Medical Center who helped us with this exceptionally large donation. 

In total, we received our largest donation yet:

312 stuffed animals

Although lockdown will prevent us from any more donations for the foreseeable future, I want to thank everyone for their support throughout the years.