Since the beginning of December, Linganore has been hosting a pajama drive to support victims of domestic violence at the Heartly House in Frederick. You may remember hearing about this drive over the announcements or in your classes. On December 22nd, to celebrate the last day of the drive, students were invited to wear their pajamas to school as part of what organizer Garret Wiehler hopes will become a tradition known as Pajama Thursday.

Wiehler set up the drive as his service project for his SSL class. He said he was inspired to create the pajama drive because of his own tradition of wearing pajamas on Thursdays, as well as the fact that he knows an advocate for the Heartly House.

“My favorite part of doing the drive was learning about domestic violence. The most surprising thing I found was that one in four women experience domestic violence in their lives, which is pretty sad,” said Wiehler.

The most difficult part of the project was transitioning from the idea of the drive to actually creating the drive. There were no school organizations or administrators helping, so Wiehler had to rely on the help of his peers in his SSL class for work such as making posters and decorating the collection box.

“I had much more support than I expected,” Wiehler said. “And it was great to see everyone wearing pajamas.”

Thank you to everyone who participated in the drive! Don’t forget to wear your pajamas next Thursday!