Students from James Monroe High School (JMHS) in Fredericksburg, Virginia, have been participating in Ceili Leahy Day of Service events since the fall of 2016, and these events have become a tradition for JMHS students to serve. In 2024, when the opportunity to serve on 9/11 Day of Remembrance presented itself, students from JMHS showed up in force for the after-school service project. Forty-six student volunteers from JMHS served the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank for 9/11 National Day of Service, decorating over 200 cardboard boxes that will be used for the Food Bank’s Emergency Food Assistance Program that helps provide essential food to people facing hunger.

The JMHS Key Club partnered with the Ceili Leahy Service Project (CLSP) for this service event. The CLSP purchased and supplied the art supplies, recruited the student volunteers, and transported the boxes to/from the school to the Food Bank. This project offered high school students the chance to spread cheer in their community and one of the project organizers reflected, “It was beautiful to see the students come together and transform the anniversary of 9/11 from a day of tragedy into a day of doing good by lifting our community and honoring the heroes from that day 23 years ago.”