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With Operation Day’s Work, TA Students Support Teens in Zimbabwe

Operation Day’s Work – or “ODW Day” as it’s known on campus – is a longstanding Thetford Academy tradition. This service-learning experience is student-led and managed and aims to make a difference in the lives of young people across the world. TA’s ODW Club, this year with 16 student leaders, plans ODW’s annual work day and other fundraising efforts to support ODW’s chosen nonprofit.

This year’s ODW work day was held on Friday, May 9. Despite the inclement weather, TA students fanned out across the Upper Valley to work at more than 3o job sites. They stacked wood, raked, painted, and gardened and, at the end of the day, donated all of their earnings to the Alpha Teens Drop-in Center in Zimbabwe. Alpha Teens, a nonprofit selected by TA students, provides critical services to infected and affected HIV+ children and their caregivers and has has helped tens of thousands of families in some of the most underserved and marginalized communities in Africa

So far this year, students’ ODW efforts have raised more than $5,000 for Alpha Teens, a total that is only growing as earnings from Friday’s work day are collected. The bake sale on the Thetford Hill green doubled its earnings this year, raising $800 for the cause, and the always-entertaining “TA Show” added nearly $1000 to the club’s earnings. A successful Operation Day’s Work is the result of months of student organizing, faculty and community support, and a whole-school commitment to service – thank you to all who helped make it possible this year.



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