Over the past two months, the Pascack Hills Unified Club has been in full swing! From Jan. 2 until the first two weeks of February, the Joe McNeice Sock Drive organization has been hard at work selling socks in honor of Joe McNeice. By the end of the drive, the organization, led by Physical Education Teacher Lorrie Sandhage, Mrs. Francine Kalman, and senior leader Eva Martinez, sold over 330 pairs of socks. They were successful in raising over $1,100.
What is Unified about?
Unified is a relatively new club in the Hills community. The idea for the club came about during Unified PE class, when some students, founder and senior leader Eva Martinez being one of them, as well as students Arleen Hertzberg and Zoe Green, decided to start a club. This club was founded to provide student leadership and collaboration for students of many different abilities.
“Unified is here to provide everyone, no matter who you are, community skills, the leadership opportunity, and a sense of empathy and understanding for all different types of disabilities. It is here to foster a community of inclusiveness,” said Sandhage.
The Unified Club also has other events, including the Visibility for All Abilities Awareness Night, which took place at the boys’ Varsity basketball game against Ramsey on Feb. 11, and Unified bowling.
Eva and Joe McNeice
Joe was a student of Mrs. Sandhage’s for all four years that he was at Hills. He was an amazingly sweet and loveable person to be around and Eva’s best friend. This is why Eva decided to start a sock drive in honor of someone who meant a lot to her. After telling Mrs. Sandhage and Mrs. Kahlman, they were more than thrilled to work with her. They had also been extremely close with Joe, and he meant a lot to them.
Eva thought of the rock painting event, and Kahlman came up with the idea to make socks in honor of Joe.
More about the Sock Drive Sale and Rock Painting
Online sales for the socks started on the second of January and lasted through Jan. 31. Then, in-person sales through the school were made through the first two weeks of February for those who wanted to purchase after the deadline. By the end of the charity, Hills Unified had raised over $1,100 and sold 330 pairs of socks. The money raised is going towards the Unified Club to provide opportunities to collaborate with other schools for field trips and donations to the affiliated Special Olympics.
In the future, the rocks painted on Feb. 20 in the art room will be put in a box to be hidden around the school. This will be Unified’s next event, known as Hidden Happiness. Thanks to Eva’s dedication, as well as the dedication of the faculty involved, there was a great turnout for rock painting!
Be on the lookout for inspirational rocks around campus. There are additional socks for sale in the Hills Grind if anyone would like to purchase them. Also, feel free to reach out to Mrs. Sandhage or Mrs. Kalman if you are interested in the Unified community. Anyone is more than welcome to get involved!
