Community Stories

For our grads

May 12, 2020

For all the grads celebrating one of life’s greatest milestones this year, this one is for you.

It’s what your parents wait for and hope for as you complete your education year after year.

It’s what fills a grandparent’s heart with pride.

It’s what your teachers help guide you towards.

It’s what you dream of and work for while living life to its fullest.

It’s graduation.

It’s walking across the stage to receive a diploma that sums up 13 years of hard work, friendships, fun, life experiences, part-time jobs, sports teams, clubs, committees and other extracurriculars. You work through tough times and hardships. You learn how to balance life and find healthy stress release. You’ve had the same friends for 13 years, or you made new friends at each school you’ve attended. You’ve become…YOU.

We’re sorry that this year isn’t going to be what you had imagined - that you won’t get to say goodbye to this chapter of life in the typical way. But what we do know, class of 2020, is that you’ll continue to take the sum experiences of your 13 years of education with you into your next adventure. That the friendships you’ve made and the lessons you have learned have still made you into an incredible member of society; and when this pandemic is over you’ll be able to take on life’s challenges because you graduated through them.

Jennifer Donnelly of Donnelly Photography has come up with a creative way to help parents recognize their grads and explains, “so many have bought dresses or suits and were really looking forward to grad day. I know everyone is thinking about the grads and I wanted to do something special, and something that would lift them up during these times. A way for the parents to show their pride and have the community to show their support as well.”

Congratulatory lawn signs are popping up all over central Alberta. Jennifer has created over 140 signs already, with 65 of them gracing the yards of Red Deer grads. Donnelly Photography is producing these lawn signs for families of grads and in turn donating to the local food bank. “Parents and grandparents can order a custom lawn sign for $40 each and show their school pride and pride for their grad. The people of Red Deer have been so good to me, that I wanted to give back to the community. Proceeds from these signs are being donated directly to the Red Deer Food Bank”

What a community-minded way to recognize this important milestone in a student’s life. Thank you to Donnelly Photography for finding a meaningful way to show support to our city’s grads while donating to a worthy cause.

Congratulations class of 2020!