From bake sales to donation projects, students here at Kingswood Oxford are making a difference one fundraiser at a time. Whether it’s raising money for local organizations, natural causes, or school initiatives, students on campus have been quite busy during the past couple of weeks. I spoke with three students who have each worked on a fundraiser to learn more about their experiences, their goals, and the importance of their project.
First, I spoke with senior Eleanor Toomey, who partnered with Upper School science teacher Dr. Alexa Tzanova to run a small fundraiser for the Pasadena Humane Society in California. “The shelter was severely impacted by the recent wildfires that occurred this winter,” Eleanor said, “and they had been taking in a lot of animals with burns and injuries that had been left behind because of the evacuation.”
When asked about the process of starting a fundraiser here at KO, Eleanor said that it was a bit tricky to get her project off the ground. “I tried announcing at an assembly,” she explained, “but it was hard because there were a couple of weeks where we didn’t have time for announcements.” She also wasn’t allowed to have a dress-down day or some kind of reward for donating, so there was less incentive on the students’ end.
“I will say, however, that it’s important to support the things that you care about and take action,” Eleanor said, “even if it’s something small.”
Next, I spoke with junior Teague Shamleffer, one of the leaders of the American Cancer Society club here at KO. “Our most recent fundraiser was at the Chipotle in the Center, which we did last year as well,” Teague said. “People could go to buy food and if they showed the poster at the counter or used an online code, then 25% of those sales would go toward the American Cancer Society.”
The club focuses on patient advocacy and raising money for both cancer research and for resources that cancer patients can use. “The goal of this Chipotle fundraiser was just to find a fun way to raise money, especially when it can get kind of boring with a club that’s based solely on fundraising,” Teague explained.
The event went very well, and they ended up raising a little over $300. “It definitely takes a lot of work to organize a fundraiser on campus, but the community is always actively participating in them,” Teague said, “and there’s always leadership and teachers that are willing to help out.” Teague says he’s excited about the club’s next fundraising project, and he hopes everyone is getting excited about the Pie Your Teacher in the Face fundraiser this spring!
Finally, I spoke with junior Shreya Adlakha about her recent bake sale. “The fundraiser is in partnership with the Little Sisters Fund, which is a non-profit organization in Nepal,” Shreya said, “and they have a branch in the U.S., which is what I got involved with.” Shreya says she was able to volunteer with the organization a couple of summers ago in Nepal, and she loved being able to give back and help the community there.
“When I came back from Nepal,” she said, “I wanted to find a way to incorporate that within my life here, so I decided to run a bake sale.” Although it was pushed back, the bake sale took place on Wednesday, March 3, during community time while the Powder Puff flag football game took place.
According to Shreya, there are specific levels of fundraising that can earn different things, for example, if you raised $50, you could buy books for the school. “The goal is just to get to as high a level as we can in order to send the most to the school in Nepal,” Shreya said.
Everyone at KO loves a good fundraiser, and it’s so important for people to come together and create awareness for specific causes that matter to our students. I hope that more people will put together projects or fundraisers and advocate for the things that matter to them.
