Merrifield Outreach is aimed at giving students the platform and opportunity to reach out into their communities around them. By helping others, students learn empathy and that what they do, no matter how small, matters.
The Prep has always been involved with Floradale Primary School in Nompumelelo and to further cement our involvement, students visit our school on various afternoons during the week to gain additional support in English and Maths. Merrifield has also started soccer coaching for their students and enjoys friendly matches against them on a regular basis.
The Prep Can Can initiative, where students bought a can of food each Thursday to distribute to a feeding scheme in Nompumelelo, was a weekly staple. This led to a weekly “Thoughtful Thursday” charity drive, where Prep students brought weekly donations for charities such as Breath of Life, previously loved sports equipment, shoe collections and collections of warm clothing, to name a few.
Adhoc Outreach initiatives, such as the CANSA Sprayathon, Slipper Day for Choc and civvies days for Reach for a Dream, help raise much needed funds for these worthy organisations.
Mandela Day on 18 July, is something Merrifield has always been very involved with. In 2022, both prep and college students collected over 1000 books that were distributed to nearby schools. This year, the prep students are making donations towards Kings Children’s Home, which currently educates over 26 homeless students.
Merrifield will continue Outreach projects, both formal and ad hoc, indefinitely as these initiatives underpin the school’s philosophy of educating the whole child
