Grade 7 students from Clearspring Middle School put on a number of fundraisers this week for local charities.

Paul Reimer is a grade 7 teacher at the Clearspring Middle School. He says recently they have been discussing poverty in social studies and had some of the local charities come into their classroom to talk about the issues that people in Steinbach are facing. He notes the students then planned ways to raise money, raise awareness, or donate their time as a project for class.

Student Tyler Hiebert says his group organized a dodgeball tournament fundraiser for ROC Eastman because they want to help other children enjoy sports and activities.

"It is our reality that there are kids out there that don't have our stuff and that can't afford to play sports like we do and I know how much me and Chuck love sports and if I couldn't play sports just because my family couldn't afford it or couldn't take us there that would be very devastating for me."

Hiebert says they were able to raise $175 for ROC Eastman through the dodgeball tournament.

Trinity Sperling is a grade 7 student. She notes her group, made up of seven girls, put on a carnival for fellow CMS students. She says the carnival ran Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday complete with games, a photo booth, food, and an opportunity to donate money to see an RCMP officer get a pie in the face. She adds the group was able to raise $763 at the carnival which will all go to Agape House.

Candy sale group presents $108 to Steinbach Family Resource Centre"We learned that you have to stretch the money really far because we spent quite a bit of money preparing it and I believe we made our money stretch pretty far by talking to businesses and getting donations from them and just a few dollars can make a large difference when you are doing something like this."

Reimer says his class really latched on to the discussion and got excited about planning their different events. He notes they all learned a lot and got to look at Steinbach from a different perspective.

"They had no idea what was needed in Steinbach and the issues that we face in such a small community. They don't really see the poverty, but to actually see what is needed in Steinbach and how some people are living was really an eye opener for a lot of them and the really wanted to help out so it is really neat to see them do that."

Reimer says the other groups held a candy sale and volunteered their time at Soups On. In total the class raised just over $1,000 for local charities.