Westlake FCCLA: Christmas Jars 2014

This year we held our annual Christmas Jars Fundraiser. This is a fundraiser inspired by the Christmas Jars book by Jason Wright.

Where had it come from? Whose money was it? Was I to spend it? Save it? Pass it on to the someone more needy? Above all else, why was I chosen? Certainly there were others, countless others more needy than I...Her reporter’s intuition insisted that a remarkable story was on the verge of the front page.

Rising newspaper reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the secret behind the "Christmas Jars" – glass jars filled with coins and bills anonymously given to people in need. But Hope discovers much more than she bargained for when some unexpected news sets off a chain reaction of kindness and brings above a Christmas Eve wish come true.

The idea from this book sparked an interest several years ago in the Westlake FCCLA leadership. We decided to start a school wide fundraiser to help those in need in our community. From the very first year it was a big hit. We raise the bar every year and set a goal for the amount of money we hope to raise.

This year our goal was $5,000. This was the same goal as last year. Last year we came up $700 short. $5,000. That is a BIG goal! You may ask "how on earth do they expect to raise that much in three weeks?!" But that is simple, Westlake is a big school with a lot of students. We calculated that if every student brought in three dollars then we would reach our goal. We had our 1st Annual Donation Assembly and with the help of Student Council and some willing participants (who volunteers to do outrageous things {such as kiss a goat, shave their eyebrows or hair, do an interpretive dance} if we raised a certain amount of money, we were able to raise $1,100 just in the assemblies we held.
To motivate students we set up a competition between the B3 classes. Whoever raised the most money would receive a catered lunch from the ProStart class, and major bragging rights. We had three "drops" where a class representative would come and drop off the money that their class had collected. The battle was neck in neck and the winning class won with $647.54, the second place at $642.82. Because they were so close, they both got the catered meal.
On the last day we gave out hot chocolate in the commons and encouraged everyone to donate.

All in all we raised $6654. 94

After collecting all of the money we had raised $1,654.94 more then our goal. With the extra money, and the help of the Saratoga Springs Police Department, we were able to go and buy Christmas presents for families that had particular needs, wrap them, and deliver them. Along with the checks we wrote to 20 families in our community. Each family received a bag with a Christmas Jars book, a Christmas Jar containing a check, and some candy.

Thanks to those who donated and made this year's fundraiser the best one yet!