Amazing 8 Under 18: Oredockers for Life

The Ashland High School Oredockers for Life are spreading love to the community.

“It makes me feel wonderful that the kids want to give back to our community”, says advisor Deb Swartz.

The Oredockers have always put their community first and around Valentine’s Day they took time out of their activity day to do something special.

Swartz says, "They are focused on wanting to help others. And, you know, they’re giving up their time to help our local cancer patients."

The group took time to make care-packages for cancer patients, full of sweets and necessities to make their day just a little bit better.

Freshman Aili Scott says, "I think it’s important because it just gives them more hope. And it’s nice to know that someone cares."

The impact of these care-packages can be felt right in their backyard. At the Northwest Wisconsin Cancer Center. The students thought that making something meaningful would be more important than donating money to a larger nonprofit.

Swartz says last year the students received a lot of positive impact.

“We received so many written thank you notes and phone calls that it was just a wonderful experience for the cancer patients as well as our students,” she says.

It is now their second year of making care-packages and new now faces have joined the group. Aili joined this year as a freshman and is passionate about the message the group sends.

“It says that we care about other things [rather] than just like sport activities and what’s going on. And we’re helping our community”, says Aili.

The students and staff packed the gifts which were full of sour candy, soup, lip balm, and also caring messages put inside them too. Students even took time out of their lunch to write the cards.

It was a major out pouring of love due to students understanding cancer’s wide spread impact on their community.

Deb Swartz says, “A lot of them shared, ‘well my grandma had cancer or my mom had cancer.’ So there’s a lot of personal connections between the students here and their families and cancer patients. So that’s why they get involved."

And while a pack of sour candy can’t treat cancer, it’s still important to the Oredockers to make their neighbor’s day.

"And it’s nice to know that someone cares. Like, they could be our age and we’re giving them to them, and they’re like, ‘Oh, hey, this person’s just across the street’”, says Aili.