Shenango students raise $12,000 for Make-A-Wish
May 6—Shenango Peer Leadership students raised more than $12,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in April.
The senior class organized a lip sync battle with seven teams of students and teachers on April 12.
"The kids were really into it," club adviser and high school special education teacher Kim Rudesill said. "We even had mixed teams of teachers and students."
The students raised about $9,000 from the lip sync battle. Other donations came from Daffin's candy bar sales which the students had been selling since the beginning of the year. Los Amigos also hosted a dine-to-donate night to help raise money. The groups were also encouraged to find mini-sponsors, which were typically family and friends, Rudesill said.
The event had a $7 admission fee and also included basket raffles and candy bar and beverage sales.
The event also saw the return of the cash dash, a tradition where student leaders run around the gym with buckets collecting as much money in two minutes as possible. Students typically also make this into a competition.
One of the most common wishes of the Foundation is a trip to Disney World, which it said costs about $5,700, according to Rudesill. The Foundation asks fundraisers to try to raise $5,200 to $5,700 to accommodate that cost. Leftover funds can be earmarked for a specific donation in Lawrence or Mercer County. This year, it was for Elyse Lenhart, a Shenango student diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"It's very heartwarming to know that people at this school and the people with Make-A-Wish are willing to put so much of their life toward helping others in the same situation as me," she said.
Shenango Area School District had a student who was granted a wish about 14 years ago. Ever since, students have been donating to the Make-A-Wish Foundation annually. They have raised about $120,437 in that time for the foundation.
The Shenango Area High School Peer Leadership group has 27 members and is advised by Rudesill and Jackie Lash. The Lawrence County Human Services school program took a two-year hiatus during the pandemic and was officially re-instated last year.
