In the past Tigard’s Sparrow child has been a young child, but this year we’re working to help a peer, a senior from Gresham named Jakob who was diagnosed with bone cancer in November.

Sparrow Clubs is a national organization providing financial and emotional support to families in medical need by pairing a Sparrow with a school. Students at the school learn about community service and compassion for others through Sparrow Club projects.

For a while, Sparrow Club was projectless. “There just wasn’t anyone near us who needed anything and we didn’t have a sponsor yet, but Jakob who lives in Gresham needed [support] really urgently, so that is when they came to us because his school had just adopted a SPARROW of their own,” Senior Abby Lam explained.

So Tigard High adopted the senior, and Black Rock jumped on board as the club’s sponsor.

Cheers erupted from the gym as Jakob’s introduction video faded out.

“It’s a lot easier to relate to him and what he’s going through,” Trevor Rabosky said, “especially with all the stress of just being a teenager and all of the social pressures and all that, and then on top of that you have cancer and you’re in the hospital more than you’re outside of the hospital, that really hits home.”

Laura Queen, Sparrow’s Portland program coordinator who lead the assembly, put an emphasis on Jakob’s love of helping others and making them smile, encouraging students to go out and work in his honor. On the back of the service vouchers, available at the Tiger Cage, is a space to write a message to Jakob, and what working helping him as meant personally to you.

Every hour of community service gives $10 to Jakob and his family to help pay bills and medical costs.

“I think one of the major points [Sparrow] teaches is compassion and how to care for others, even if you don’t know them. It just really shows how we as a community can come together for one cause to help someone,” Rabosky said.

Students can find listings for community service next to the Job Board by the Career Center.