After the great success in the 2024/25 school year, we once again organized a donation campaign in cooperation with Caritas at our school, the International School Kufstein, as a school project for our Community Commitment.
In Religious Education classes, we first explored the work of Caritas and concrete forms of Christian charity. We became aware of how many families, even in Austria—not only in distant countries—struggle to meet their basic needs. This situation is further aggravated by rising living and energy costs, especially during the cold season. Besides hygiene products, many families lack sufficient food for their daily needs.
From this insight, the idea arose—just as in the previous school year—to collect packages with basic food supplies and hygiene items. We formed working groups in the two Grade 10 classes to develop concrete plans and take responsibility for organization, logistics, and communication. After consulting with Ms. Andrea Klapper from Caritas in Wörgl, it became clear that food packages during the cold season would again be especially helpful. This ensured that the students’ support matched the real needs of people in difficult situations.
Students from Grade 10 took on project leadership, especially Barbara Jurleta and Barbara Kapfinger for designing posters to inform the school community about the campaign, and Sophia Pohl and Mario Lengauer for communication with teachers, involving them in the project and helping to reach other classes.
Through our school Teams channel, organized by the student council, we also informed the entire school community in the next phase of the project. The posters were displayed around the school, and emails were sent explaining the purpose and process of the donation drive. In this way, we achieved and motivated many students, teachers, and parents to live social responsibility through their contributions.
Over several weeks—until December 23, 2025—we collected many donations. The support exceeded our expectations and showed impressive solidarity within our school community toward less privileged people.
The first handover of donations already took place on December 18, 2025, when the collected items were given to Ms. Klapper. Grade 10 students helped transport the cartons and load the donations. Afterwards, the donations were brought to the Caritas office in Kufstein, from where they were distributed to people in need. Through our direct contact with Ms. Klapper, we gained insight into the concrete help provided on site and better understood how important every single donation is.
The project was a valuable experience for everyone involved. Many students reported that they had thought about poverty and social inequality more consciously for the first time. We experienced that Christian values such as compassion, justice, and responsibility are not only topics in class but become visible through shared action. As a Catholic private school, we see this project as an expression of our mission to support people in need and to show young people that faith and social responsibility belong together.
The great success of the donation drive encouraged us to plan further social projects in the future and to set signs of hope, especially during Advent and Christmas. We sincerely thank all class teachers, students, and parents who made this project possible. Together, we showed that commitment and solidarity can truly make a difference.
Ms. Klapper thanks the students for their help transporting the donations to the Caritas office in Kufstein and for their wonderful commitment to helping people in need.
Sophia Pohl (10B)
Stefan Höck, BSc – Teacher of Catholic Religious Education
