Cape Henry Upper School students participated in a fundraiser for Pajama Jams, an organization created and run by the Tucker family. This program aims to collect pajamas for unfortunate children in Hampton Roads. Currently, they have aided 11,000 local children by donating pajamas to those in need. During the holidays, some might not appreciate pajamas as a Christmas gift; however, others are not lucky enough to even have one pair of pajamas, so these children are extremely grateful for the work done by this organization. Olivia Tucker (‘20) is the daughter of Erika Tucker, the founder of Pajama Jams. When asked about the club’s origin, Tucker states “my mom gave us pajamas for Christmas and [my brother and I] complained,” which inspired Erika to begin donating pajamas to the less fortunate. 

In the CHC community, Olivia Tucker follows her brother, Logan Tucker (‘19), in running the Pajama Jams club. She states “my brother decided to bring the club to Cape Henry last year, and I wanted to make it bigger.” As a senior, Tucker has lived up to the responsibility of heading the club in our school. She took the lead on the pajama day fundraiser last Friday. Tucker “got a group of people together” to brainstorm, then determined “a pajama day would be fun for students and they would need to bring pajamas to participate.” Her incredible leadership skills made this day a success, as she notes “ she was only expecting “[students to bring] 200 pairs of pajamas.” Ava Mager (‘20), a member of the club, states they “collected over 400 pairs of pajamas” from the fundraiser. 

When asked about the reasons for her participation in Pajamas Jams, Mager responds “I like the cause and I wanted to have a leadership role in making a difference in children’s lives.” The club is composed of around ten students who actively plan events and help the club function. Pajama day was the latest idea created by the club members to boost their pajama collection in order to maximize donations. Mager reveals members “used Instagram as well as emails” to spread the word and increase student participation in the pajama day. 

One student who chose to take part in the fundraiser is Allie Angelo (‘20). She donned a pair of pajamas and brought a pair in to support the cause. Angelo wants to join Pajama Jams in the future. She states the club “is great” and especially admires “the fact they go to elementary school to hand the pajamas out.” Additionally, Angelo “helped count pajamas” before they were distributed to the children.   

The delivery of pajamas was the final step of this Christmas fundraiser. Tucker reveals a group of students “went to Seatack elementary” the following Wednesday to distribute the pajamas to children in need. As the leader of the club in our community, Tucker states she “loved it,” as giving out the pajamas is “always the best part” of the club. Mager also commented on the experience, saying it was “fun helping kids pick out pajamas”; the senior club member reveals “close to 100 kids” received pajamas. 

The dedication to community service at Cape Henry Collegiate is evident through the student’s participation in the pajama day fundraiser. Thanks to the work of our community, over one hundred kids will keep warm in pajamas for Christmas.