Here at LAS, we prioritize instilling a sense of philanthropy in our community. In doing so, we hope to develop our students into compassionate citizens of the world who are aware of global issues and who are generous with their time and resources. Every year, LAS organizes a service trip in partnership with the Sethule Orphans' Trust in Zimbabwe, where we have a cultural exchange program and help with ongoing building projects. To help this community, students raise money beforehand in the form of an auction, which took place this week! We were really pleased to have raised as much as we did with the help of our generous community!

The students involved in this trip took a leading role in organizing the auction, from creating the video and organizing the prizes to running the auction itself on the day! It was great to see our students develop their leadership skills and become passionate about this great cause. These students will travel to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe during spring break, and they are really excited to get involved and see in person the difference that the money raised by LAS will have on the community. 

LAS has partnered with the Sethule Orphans' Trust for the last ten years. Sethule Orphans' Trust was founded in 2005 in response to a rapidly increasing number of disadvantaged orphans, especially in the poorest rural communities of western Zimbabwe. This wonderful organization support orphans by connecting them with foster families and supporting local schools. 80% of the money raised by the auction will go towards supporting this charity.

The remaining 20% will go towards our second initiative, the LAS Impact Fund. The Impact Fund provides financial support for student-centered projects that deliver impact and go above and beyond in everything we do at LAS. Projects that have been supported by the fund this year benefit teaching, activities, and programs, develop student spaces across campus, support scholarship students, and fund experiential learning programs. We can’t wait to see what we can achieve this semester with the help of our donors!

During the auction, our students were excited to support these initiatives and bid on some fantastic prizes. Some of the prizes included prom photos, homemade baked goods, parapenting with a video, Horizonte coffee, and much more. To encourage more students to get involved, we also organized a raffle and buy-in items, which included late check-in, elevator access, and an extra ski day, to name a few! Thank you to everyone in our community who donated their time and energy to these auction items.

Thanks to our student bidders, we managed to raise a record-breaking CHF 30,000 for these initiatives! This knocked last year’s figure out the park, and we are so pleased that students were able to contribute to show their spirit of philanthropy! Philanthropy is a crucial value of our school, and we are so excited to see the tangible change these donations will have on people’s lives, both at LAS and in Zimbabwe. Thank you for your generosity!