With COVID-19 cases still on the rise, any effort to keep others safe and healthy is appreciated, and that’s exactly what junior Natalie Barnes is doing with her COVID-19 donation boxes. There are four set up around the school, and they are located in the A Hall office, the commons, the mall area, as well as by CTE-6.

Barnes originally got the idea to make the donation box while looking through a list of scholarships, one of those scholarships requiring making and donating five masks.

“At that moment, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head,” Barnes said. “I hadn’t realized that financially disadvantaged homes were in need of masks and other materials to fight off COVID. I made it my mission to make the greatest change that I could to that situation.”

Students are recognizing the initiative taken by Barnes and are admiring her for it.

“When I heard Natalie was starting the donation box I was really excited about the idea,” junior Anna Latta said. “I think it’s great that a student is taking initiative and taking COVID seriously. I’m going to support her with this amazing thing!”

Unfortunately, it’s not picking up as fast as teachers hoped it would, as it is difficult to get donations in.

“I haven’t had much success in my class,” Spanish teacher Michael Garcia said. “Maybe one or two people have donated.”

Despite this, Barnes would like to take the COVID donation project beyond the school and to local businesses in order to pick up the pace.

“I am actually talking to Mrs. Kisner that runs Ain’t That Somethin’ on Main Street about having a box there,” Barnes said. “I would go through everything before I brought it on campus and make sure everything is safe and only what we are asking for. I have definitely thought about it and I hope it can become a reality soon.”

The donation box could use every bit of help it can get, whether the donations consist of masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, etc., everything counts.

“Some may not be worried about COVID, but there are other people in the community that are,” Latta said. “This is a very good opportunity to help the members in the community and help them get the things they need.”