By Jillian Benzen
WHS sponsored seven families through a program called Adopt-A-Family, a fundraiser organized by Interfaith Outreach, this past November. The holiday seasons of these families have been made a little brighter thanks to the community at WHS.
In total WHS raised $6400. It was a huge success and a big accomplishment for the student council members.
The council’s goal was to raise $3500. The members of the council went around asking their peers, teachers, and the community of Plymouth and Wayzata for donations.
The 113 student council members met the goal of raising $30. What started out as just asking for money led to a whole lot more as the council got creative and went above and beyond expectations.
Zach Sperry (11) held a competition between Mr. Miles’ and Ms. McIntyre’s AP U.S. History classes. McIntyre’s class raised the most, but together the two classes raised $140 for the cause.
Rachel Path (12) and Elise Path (9) are two members that also went beyond their duties. The sisters went outside the walls of WHS and asked family friends for donations. A birthday party was held within the family, and, instead of gifts, the girls asked people to make a donation to the cause. Their party raised $160.
Logan Kirst (11) raised a total of $238. Kirst asked many different people in the hallways, in class, and at lunch for donations. “The best part is that most people would simply give a dollar or two, and that is all it takes,” said Kirst. Class competitions and competitions among student council members were some of the ways Kirst raised money. “In one of my classes alone we raised $100 dollars in attempt to out-raise another block.”
Once the money was collected, the student council went shopping for the families. There was a mandatory shopping day where the students met at Mrs. Iverson’s house and were each given $100 dollars to shop for one person in one of the seven families. Each council member had a list of the wants and needs of the selected person for which they were shopping.
“My peers and I went to Target and bought pots and pans, as well as socks and sneakers,” Sperry said. He had the opportunity to watch the families open up there gifts on Friday, December 12. Sperry is involved in the orchestra at WHS. He and other musical members of the student council are apart of a string quartet that will play Holiday tunes for the sponsored family.
Kirst was able to attend the big shopping day. He shopped for a 35 year-old male and purchased work boots, a king size blanket and shirts. “After the gifts were wrapped and sent off to the families you realize that it is not just about buying the gifts, it’s about making somebody’s holidays. It is really cool to feel like you’re making a difference in someone’s life,” Kirst said.
Junior, Kalie Michael said, “When shopping for Adopt-A-Family I shopped for a 30 year old woman. She needed Tupperware, a wireless telephone for her kitchen, and she needed scented candles. We were able to get it all.”
“Kids just did it, we didn’t have to put food attached to it,” said Mrs. Iverson, the WHS Student Council Administrator. A Noodles night was planned again where all proceeds from the restaurant would go the WHS Adopt-A-Family fund, but unfortunately Noodles overbooked and the company donated $500 instead.
Student Council President Andrew Haertzen (12) and Vice President Lauren Wilvers (12) took a big part in organizing and getting the council ready. There main job is to keep there peers involved and make sure everyone is keeping up with their duties.
“My favorite part of Adopt-A-Family is the thank you letters we receive back from the families. It brings joy and happiness to what WHS did as a whole, I hope that the whole student body can see how thankful the sponsored families were,” said Haertzen.
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