Most fundraisers at FHC return the profits to the school for activities such as dances, sports, and new furniture or resources. A unique fundraiser is the annual Family Promise fundraiser, in which profits do not go toward ordinary things.
The fundraiser is for people in need, who may not have the money or resources to fend for themselves or get things that other families may find ordinary and frequent. FHC is Family Promise’s main fundraiser for the year.
Kristy Butler is one of the teacher organizers of our Family Promise fundraiser. She gathers that students for the students needed for the different sanctions of the organization. It makes it a very student-oriented activity.
“Our main role is really helping facilitate with student council,” Butler explained. “Making sure we have enough volunteers to collect money during lunches that the student council knows what we are doing to promote it.”
The fundraiser has three parts: the first part is the actual fundraiser, the second is shopping for items, and the third is the store.
The first part of the fundraiser is the fundraising. There is a slot of time, about a week-long, where at every lunch the student council goes around and collects money. The motivation is that each class is competing against each other for a pizza party. Our goal this year was to raise $10,000 from the school combined.
Senior Class Vice President Josie Crosse is a part of the large effort. A large portion of the responsibilities get passed down to her and other members during the fundraising process.
“[We] make sure everyone knows when we’re supposed to be donating,” Josie said, “how to donate, whether it through Venmo or the buckets at school, and just trying to get the word out about family promise and get as many donations as possible.”
The next two parts go hand in hand: the shopping and the store.
For the shopping, the money raised is used to take volunteers from the school to go and shop for a variety of objects that the organization and people request. The student volunteers meet at different locations and shop off of a list they are given. They then store it until it comes time for the Family Promise store to be set up.
“[The shopping] is one of my favorite days,” Butler commented. “We’ll have kids come in and we will meet at Meijer one day and Walmart another and use all the money we fundraised for toys, household items, gifts for the family, and we store them at the school for a while.”
The store is also set up with a large portion of student help. They prepare everything that they bought to make the setting. Then, the people will be allowed to get what each person need. The students will help during the activity by doing things such as watching kids as their families gather their share from the store.
The student community is very aware of the fundraiser and takes great responsibility in collecting the money for it. Freshman Olivia Waller, along with many of the other incoming students, knows a lot about the fundraiser and has given money towards the purpose.
“[Student council was effective in publishing],” Waller described. “They made announcements at lunch, on FX, and there were posters I had seen around the school.”
She, and many other students, could see the importance of the fundraiser and appreciate it for what it provides. It is clearly shown because we successfully reached our goal of $10,000, with some to spare.
“I think it is really good for our school and other people to participate in it to donate,” Waller said. “We are able to help other people who may not be as fortunate as some people are.”
