During December, January and February members of the senior class at Lauralton Hall held three dress-down days, when students wear casual clothes rather than the school uniform, for a charity donation.
The dress-down days netted $1,000 that was donated to Smilow Cancer Center at Yale-New Haven Hospital.
The class came together to support the family of a classmate whose mother recently died from cancer and had been treated at Smilow.
“This was our way of helping a classmate and doing what we could for her and her family during such a difficult time,” said student Kaitlyn DeLallo.
“One of our Mercy core values is compassion and service,” said class moderator and history teacher Courtney Dwyer. “From the moment students walk through our doors, they work on many different types of projects to give back to the community. These dress-down days were just one small way that they felt they could give back and do something to help their classmate.”
On March 12, Alison Marcinek, senior development officer at Yale New Haven Hospital, visited Lauralton to accept the donation and thank the senior class.
“It is wonderful that the students came together to raise money for something that meant a great deal to them,” Marcinek said. “I was very glad to come and let them know that their efforts will make a difference for the patients at Smilow Cancer Hospital.”