Senior leadership creates school-wide activites to raise money

Senior leadership sells and makes pancakes every Monday.

This year, senior Dara Hulstein had an idea to celebrate the season by giving back to the world around her. 

“We are helping children and their families in Haiti and Mozambique by raising money to buy desks, and we also want to purchase cement floors,” Hulstein said.

Through her efforts to provide the people of developing countries with the same luxuries we enjoy, Hulstein created many activities and a variety of choices around the school as ways for the student body to give back. “We are having a sucker tree, which is in the guidance office, and it is 50 cents for a sucker. If you grab a sucker with a black bottom, you win more candy, if you get a red bottom sucker, you win a free Scratch cupcake of your choice that you can pick from a sheet of options. We sell candy canes to spread awareness and cheer. Also, on Monday mornings up until winter break until 9:25, we are having pancake breakfasts. It is $3 for two pancakes and a drink. We want to raise as much money as we can by spreading holiday cheer with lots of fun candy and prizes and different activities that everyone can get involved in no matter their preferences.”

Hulstein was able to find inspiration for these projects through her church and opportunities the holiday season brings. “Our goal is to help children who may not be as fortunate as us. I wanted to start this fundraiser because I was sitting in church one morning, and they were talking about it, and I wanted to be able to have the funds to donate to this cause, and since December was coming up and that’s when the holiday cheer starts, I thought being able to do the candy canes and such would be a good way to change it up a little bit,” Hulstein said.

While she created the idea and pitched it herself, Hulstein credits her friends, teacher and fellow classmates to her ability to give back. “[Senior leadership adviser Julie] Cuvelier has been a giant help to me, helping us go through senior leadership and spreading the word and using her abilities with fundraising to make this so successful. Doing this kind of stuff and having help from my friends has been a lot of fun,” Hulstein said.

While giving back to the community is Hulstein’s main priority, having the support from her friends has helped to create a bond and a way to spend time together. “Hanging out with them and doing this brings a lot of happiness to our hearts. It’s really fun manning the candy canes and selling pancakes. It makes my heart happy, and I hope it makes everyone else’s heart happy,”

Senior Rachel Osterhaus said she appreciates being able to help her friend achieve her goals while also learning new things about her friends. “We all have bonded further with the idea of giving back. We appreciate the time we get to spend together and look forward to Monday mornings when we get to run the pancake breakfast,” Osterhaus said. “I get to see my classmates giving back, and we have realized how we as a team can make a difference.”

Senior Alaina Wellendorf also finds strength in working as a team and seeing students making a difference. “These projects are really fun, and it’s cool to see students wanting to participate in them. People in the community are able to participate in a good cause, which is really neat,” Wellendorf said.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.