3/5/2020
Students from six local schools completed over 2,000 service hours during the annual competition
NEW ORLEANS - United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA) today announced the winners of the 2020 Mission Ignition volunteer challenge, during which local high schools competed to complete service hours over four weeks.
Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy took home the top prize, with Thomas Jefferson High School and Benjamin Franklin High School placing second and third, respectively.
Students from these schools, along with Haynes Academy, Lusher Charter School and John Ehret High School, completed 2,294 hours of service resulting in $52,211 in community impact created during the 2020 competition.
During the month-long challenge, students participate in weekend service projects, or “missions,” coordinated by United Way of Southeast Louisiana. This year’s missions brought students across the Greater New Orleans area to complete beautification projects at Sankofa Wetland Trail, Geraldine Boudreaux Elementary School, New Orleans City Park, Joe Brown Park, Harriet Tubman Charter School, and VIET.
Winning schools were determined by a formula that included the number of service hours completed, percentage of the school’s student body who participated, number of students who attended missions, number of students that collected outside service hours, and other measures.
Since its founding in 2013, Mission Ignition has produced over $560,000 in community impact.
To learn more about Mission Ignition, visit UnitedWaySELA.org/Mission-Ignition, or contact UWSELA Resource Development Manager Haley Mack at HaleyM@UnitedWaySELA.org.
###
About United Way of Southeast Louisiana
For 95 years, United Way of Southeast Louisiana (UWSELA) has been a leader and trusted partner in improving lives and making a lasting difference. We fight to eradicate poverty by preparing people for quality jobs, growing incomes, and affording better health and education opportunities throughout Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes. We have a bold vision of equitable communities where all individuals are healthy, educated, and financially stable – and we have a plan. United Way of Southeast Louisiana’s Blueprint for Prosperity guides all strategic investments in programs, initiatives, collaborations, volunteerism, and advocacy aimed at tackling poverty. For more information, please visit UnitedWaySELA.org. Find us on social: @UnitedWaySELA.
Join United Way. GIVE. ADVOCATE. VOLUNTEER. CONNECT.