We contacted the schools who raised the most money for Kenya Connect in the past year and we asked, how did you do it? We were pleased to learn about several creative and traditional ways to raise money.
Thomas Wootton H.S. in Rockville, Maryland raised $5,335 through a Cookie Dough Sale. Ms. Fevronia Cresham reported that the students did an outstanding job selling the dough and that the Cookie Company said that this was the only organization who donated all the profits to a charity! The funds helped purchase a water tank, put up a fence, build desks, and assisted in a number of projects!
Students at Southern Middle School in Lothian, MD raised $3,075 for a water tank and sporting good equipment for two schools by holding a read-a-thon. The students received pledges/donations for the number of books they read in a marking period. The highest achievers won a carved animal! To keep track students wrote the name of books they read on a bone (they are the bulldogs) which were posted on the wall!
"Walk for Wamunyu" was St. John's Parish Day School's latest fundraiser. The students received pledges for walking 1 and 2 miles around the campus (the average walk a child in Kenya has to go to get to school). All Lower School and early education students participated raising close to $7,000-- part of the funds were used for Kenya Connect administrative costs to run the Pen Pal and School Sponsorship program.
The John F. Kennedy HS Leadership Training Institute held an International Talent Show and raised $1,700 for their partner school.
"Pennies for Pages" is a fundraiser for for the fifth grade students at Scheisher School in IL. Students get sponsors to pledge a penny for every page they read from the end of October until the beginning of January. The students kept track of how many pages they read which is tabulated on a giant thermometer in the hallway. In December a huge celebration was held where the final total of $1,673 was revealed. A giant check was presented to the students and they had a guest talk about her travels in Africa. The students also visited centers in different classrooms to learn more about Kenya. They shopped in an African market, played games, and learned about dance, music and folklore.
Jambo!
