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Sia Matai posing with a student from Freedom School.

Sia Matai and a Freedom School student pose for a photo. Freedom School is just one of many service club partnerships at Providence Day.
 

Sia Matai was a sophomore when a service club at Providence Day paired her with a buddy at the Aldersgate senior living community in Charlotte.

She talked with John over the phone every Saturday morning, and their conversations ranged from what their plans were for the week to his family history.

“But there was always one thing that remained the same: the glimmer in his voice while talking every weekend,” Sia, now a senior at Providence Day, says. “The generational gap had nothing on us; we were still able to connect, a skill I believe is very important in a society that is becoming more and more generationally isolated.”

Club members transitioned to card-making to provide happiness and encouragement, but the club diminished when Aldersgate underwent staffing changes.

Sia is making cards the focus of her rebranded club she and co-leader Davies Easley are launching in February.

“I am thrilled to bring a smile to more people's faces and also gain more leadership skills,” Davies says. “This opportunity is such a huge blessing, and I am excited to see it take off this spring.”

Cards for Kindness will be just one of dozens of clubs on display at a Providence Day’s Service Club fair geared toward freshmen during lunch February 4.

All 28 Providence Day service clubs will be available to ninth-grade students. Students in 10th through 12th grade generally sign up for service clubs during the first week of September at the Upper School Service Club Fair, and they can join service clubs at any time throughout the year.

“This Service Club Fair is geared toward 9th graders,” Jennifer Bratyanski, Providence Day’s Upper School Community Engagement Coordinator, says. “They must wait until second semester to sign up for service clubs as we want them to get acclimated to the Upper School before they make an additional commitment to volunteering for one or more of the service clubs.”

Collage of pictures from various service club projects.

The Service Club Fair provides opporutunities for Upper School students to engage in service opportunities in the Charlotte community.
 

A service club leaders meeting also is scheduled for Thursday in The Stable from 1:20 p.m. to 2 p.m., to discuss how leaders will be preparing to onboard ninth-grade students into their clubs, among other things, Ms. Bratyanski says.

“It is important for students to express their gratitude and support to local organizations and communities — even those that they may not be as closely connected to,” Sia says. “Plus, students are likely to become more attuned to the valiant efforts of so many people: doctors, nurses, firefighters, etc.”

Cards for Kindness will meet at least once a month to focus on a specific organization/group and deliver cards at the end of the month. For example, leaders hope to deliver Valentine’s Day cards to Levine Children’s Hospital.

They also want to deliver cards to local first responders and make sure they honor local nurses during National Nurses Week, May 6 through 12.&

“Growing up, I always loved receiving cards with handwritten messages,” Sia says. “It really does say something when someone goes out of their way to manually write it in an age where texting and social media is trumping almost every mode of communication.”

Davies agrees.

“I have a bin in my room filled with every single handwritten card I have ever received,” Davies says. “They mean so much to me and always bring a smile to my face. I hope to make other people's day better in the same way.”

When she was little, Sia loved the craft section of Michael’s, she says, and grabbed whatever pillow-making, coloring activity, or marker maker she could get her hands on.

“As I've gotten older, time just seems to run away from me, so I haven't gotten as crafty as I've wanted to,” she says. “But making cards during the school day, I think, serves as a good crafting outlet amidst some busy high school days while also doing a good deed for the community.”

For Sia, service is a responsibility, and she’s grown up witnessing the impact that can be made on others.

“It is our duty to lend a helping hand and share our resources with those in need and show support,” she says. “A little encouragement and empowerment can go a long way, and it doesn’t take much to create a lasting impact on another individual.”

It’s the way service clubs at Providence Day operate, whether it’s supporting the American Red Cross, Beds for Kids, Freedom School, or making cards.

“The more people we have, obviously more cards are made, and more lives are touched,” Sia says. “As a senior who is graduating soon, I will only get to see the very start of this club, so my hope is simply to have a group who is excited to make cards and sees the value of it.

“I hope to incite a chain reaction, where friends bring friends, and it turns into a large gathering full of card-making and positive interactions.”