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Thanks to support of the community, SDSS Kares, Grade 10 Careers and Civics students at Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS), raised $1,810 to invest in loans through Kiva supporting individuals and entrepreneurs in developing countries and empowering them to improve their lives.

In a January 21 media release, fundraising efforts were led by various groups and individuals within the four classes who chose the type of fundraising venture to undertake. Each group or individual will now be able to choose various Kiva projects to invest in as they grant loans to support health, education, environment and entrepreneurship endeavours.

Chosen ventures ranged from conducting bake sales in the school and community; to an Indian Taco sale; to shovelling snow; to neighbourhood bottle drives; to collecting Tim Horton's cups (student's received a donation for every cup collected); to running a Trail Ride at Prance; and to door to door canvasing.

A total of 29 loans were made in 17 different countries in the following sectors: Agriculture 9, Personal Use 5, Health 4, Education 3, Food 3, Retail 3, Housing 1, Clothing 1.

SDSS Teachers, Liz Campbell and Dawn Williams, were impressed with the impact the project had on students. Three recurring themes in the reflections written by students were: a new awareness of how privileged we are in Canada compared to the rest of the world; how empowered they felt making a difference in the lives of others; and that many indicated a desire to continue to contribute to projects like Kiva that have the power to make the world a better place, locally and globally.

The students and their teachers would like to thank the community, including family, friends, businesses and SDSS staff for their generous support.

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