LHS Make-A-Wish fundraiser exceeds expectations

After a week of various events and efforts from March 27 through April 4, the Lovell High School student council’s initiative to raise money to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation passed their thousand dollar goal.

In total, the group collected $3,464.48 after the concluding pep rally held in the high school gymnasium on Friday afternoon, with all proceeds going directly to the organization.

A change drive among K-12 for students and staff brought in $1,210 with the seniors leading the way donating $241.91, the juniors next behind them with $112.22 and the fourth-grade class collecting $111.09, while second graders brought in $104.24.

Another key donation was given by the Lovell SkillsUSA team out of their budget of $500, and LHS student council sponsor Caleb Sanders wanted to give them a special thanks for that generosity.

On Thursday, March 27, the community members turned out to show support and enjoy the movie “Wonder” at the Hyart Theatre, and donations reached $1,029 on that night alone.

The community also had a chance to donate their spare change at the showings of Lovell High School’s musical performance of “Aladdin Jr.” on March 31 and April 1, where an additional $267 was given by those in attendance.

“We cannot thank the community enough for their support,” Sanders said. “We were able to get well over our hoped-for goal, and that just shows how willing the people here are to help one another or those in need.”

Throughout the week, the LHS students and staff participated in a school-wide bead challenge that consisted of friendly games of rock-paper-scissors where each student received a beaded necklace. And during the day, students had chances to challenge other students to a faceoff where the winner of the match won the loser’s beaded necklace.

Whenever a student reached five necklaces, they were able to challenge a teacher to a game. If a student lost all of their beads, they had the opportunity to get back into the game by purchasing an additional set of beads in the office.

A total of $344.15 was earned in the buying back of necklaces by those participating in the high school.

The top eight students with the most beads at the end of the school day on Thursday earned a spot in a rock-paper-scissors bracket tournament held at the pep rally to conclude Make-A-Wish Week on Friday where junior Halen Strom was the victor.

During the pep rally, students and staff donated spare change to participate in games such as musical chairs, relay races and more while members of the student council shared stories of kids from Wyoming who have been blessed by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Make-A-Wish is a non-profit organization that grants life changing wishes to children with terminal illnesses, aiming to bring joy, hope and strength to them and their families, and the Wyoming chapter of the organization has been granting such experiences for more than 39 years.

“We definitely consider this a successful fundraising effort and a fun one, too,” Sanders said.