CLOVER, S.C. — Every high school student looks forward to their Senior year. But what happens when a global pandemic shuts everything down? For one community, that's when friends and family members step up and to make sure their high school seniors have something positive to look back on.
This week it was announced that South Carolina Schools are closed for the rest of the year.
"Yeah, I kind of had a feeling it was going to be canceled,” said Meg Stepco.
Even though Meg Stepco is a junior at Clover High School, she and her mom weren't about to let a little social distancing ruin for it their seniors.
"We talked about it and Meg said just do it," said Michelle Stepco.
They started a Facebook page looking for people in the community to adopt their seniors.
"The parents post their seniors, and anyone from the family or community can adopt them," explained Meg Stepco.
That unleashed a wave of generosity, with many high school seniors receiving gifts baskets and coupons.
"It could be as simple as cards or flowers,” Michelle Stepco said. “Something to cheer them up a bit."
And all that cheer is catching on. There are nearly 500 graduating seniors and 270 are already participating.
Meg Stepco and her mom say that's just the Clover High School way.
"They have big hearts. They love their students," said Michelle Stepco. "There was no doubt that there were people out there that would contribute to this. We weren't expecting it to go this far. We're very grateful for all the generosity from the parents."
"I'm really surprised in this hard time, but people have really come together and supported every single senior," said Meg Stepco.
One more reason this is a senior year few are likely to forget.
Since it first went online one week ago, Clover High School's "Adopt a Senior" Facebook page has grown to 1,600 members.