Live Civilly Sponsors Essay Contest for Moorestown Students

The nonprofit live civilly, a food drive-focused group , is sponsoring an essay contest for students. Select students will get the chance to accompany the group to a “Civility Week” event hosted at Burlington County College (BCC).

Kahra Buss—mother of Abigail, 5, Grace, 7, and Anna, 11, who founded the charity—said the college invited live civilly to participate in Civility Week, during which organizations from across the Philadelphia/New Jersey region will “offer perspectives and round-table discussions about how different acts of civility can improve … communities.”

The event takes places on the college’s Mount Laurel campus.

Live civilly will host its own hourlong forum and panel discussion during the event on Nov. 16.

Buss said the essay contest is based on “the premise that a lot of great discussions happen between age groups, and some of your greatest conversations start with your littlest ones.”

Essay contestants are asked to answer, in 100 words or less: “How can you help in your community?” Or, “What can you do to ‘live civilly?’”

Buss said she and her daughters will attempt to set up an “objective quorum of judges” to evaluate essays and the names of the authors will be hidden from her daughters, lest they be tempted to favor their friends.

Though she’s not sure what kind of response they’ll get, Buss said, if it’s strong, “We’re hoping … we’ll be able to make this into a more substantial program and a larger venue next year.”

Essays must be turned in by Wednesday, Nov. 9. Students can submit them to their respective school office.

For more information, contact Buss at contact@livecivilly.org or call 856-313-9853.