When Joshua Sheppard signed up to volunteer at the SL24 Memorial Classic last February, he probably wasn’t expecting that experience to become what it has.
Josh, an eighth-grader at Holy Angels School in Newark, was at Saint Mark’s High School on Sept. 11 to present the school and the UnLocke the Light Foundation with a check for more than $9,000 for Sean’s Room. The room, which opened in February, is a space for students to visit if they need to talk or find resources for dealing with mental health struggles.It includes lounge chairs and places to relax, along with two rooms for private discussions.
It is named after Sean Locke, a graduate of Saint Mark’s High School who lost his battle with depression in 2018. The SL24 Memorial Classic began the next year, and Sean’s House near the University of Delaware opened in 2020.
Joshua said he was on his way home from the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington and thought of some ideas to help out with the foundation. While at the basketball tournament, he learned about the life of Sean Locke, after whom the room is named. He said he was inspired by “just the whole story of Sean Locke and what he did through college and high school and how he helped other people.”
He got to work putting his ideas into action. Over the course of eight months, he sold pet bags at local businesses and Wilmington Blue Rocks games; held an online silent auction for almost 40 gift baskets after soliciting items from local businesses; held an auction for Phillies tickets; crowdsourced money online; and staged a candy counting contest. He raised a total of $9,111.13.
Joshua, a member of St. John’s-Holy Angels Parish, said the location of Sean’s Room played a part in his decision to raise money for that purpose.
“I’m soon to be going into high school, and it’s in a high school, and I thought it helped other high schoolers and other students. It would be something closer to me,” he said, adding that he has not yet decided where he will attend high school.
The event at Saint Mark’s was “pretty cool,” he added. “I was a little nervous doing the speech, but I thought I did it pretty well.”
Joshua has no immediate plans for another fundraising campaign, but he believes there will be others at some point.
