The National Honor Society (NHS) at APEX Homeschool Program recently wrapped up their first-ever Make-A-Wish fundraiser, setting a new record for the highest fundraising total in the history of Make-A-Wish events within the St. Vrain Valley Schools.
“Our goal was $7,500, which at the beginning seemed like a lot of money for such a small school to raise, but in the end we raised $9,200, which is incredible,” shared sophomore Ezra Kellar. “It exceeded all of our expectations. We thought if we got a good chunk of the $7,500, it would be great, but to raise so much more than our goal was amazing.” Students were excited about surpassing their fundraising goal, knowing that their efforts would have a significant impact on granting the wishes of children in need.
This was the first year APEX coordinated a Make-a-Wish fundraiser. “Normally, the NHS does a food drive in February,” said sophomore Elliana Sievers. “This year, we decided to try something new and hold Make-a-Wish month. It blew us away to see how much the kids were responding to it and how into it everyone was.”
Students implemented a variety of strategies to promote Make-a-Wish Month and encourage people to donate. “We split ourselves into different committees, and each one was responsible for different aspects of the fundraiser,” said junior Anna Vaughn. “I was one of the leaders of the advertising committee, so I had people make a ton of posters and do announcements in the morning to raise awareness.”
Mallory McQueen, a sophomore, was responsible for asking for donations and getting prizes. “I walked along Main Street and handed out posters to a bunch of shops,” said Mallory. “When I got back to my house, I saw online that there were already a lot of people and businesses who had donated. It’s such a cool thing for a teenager to be able to do this because it’s so special to help kids.”
Sophomore Ellianna Sievers co-led the education committee, which was responsible for engaging students. “My committee worked with the students at APEX,” shared Ellianna. “The week before we started the fundraiser, we went into all of the classrooms to talk about Make-a-Wish and explain how to donate. Throughout the month, we set up a craft table to bring about awareness about it. We went into classrooms and read books to the younger kids, and we went into the high school classes and did a presentation for them. We just wanted to teach everyone what it was all about.”
The funds raised were collected through donation jars at the school or online. “We had jars throughout the school, and we also put up posters with QR codes so people could donate through the website,” shared Ezra. “We posted information about it on our school website, had links in our weekly newsletter, and spoke to students during lunch to explain how and where they could donate, which I think helped them understand how it worked.”
The fundraising experience was memorable for students who exemplified teamwork. For senior Geneieve Carter, two separate experiences during the fundraiser stood out. “One was working with the kids. We made flowers with pipe cleaners and tissue paper, and it was fun seeing how they lit up and were very curious about it,” explained Geneieve. “Secondly, I was a supervisor of the education committee, and I thought it was really profound to see all of the members of my own group and other groups working so well with one another. The two leaders were really committed and fully took the concept and ran with it. It was amazing seeing that.”