About Needs & Good Deeds

WAITSBURG - With plenty of fanfare on Friday night on Waitsburg High School's football field, students from Dayton High School and students from Waitsburg stretched paperlink chains across the field. Each link in those chains represented one dollar raised for the American Cancer Society.

The society fundraiser was the first Dayton versus Waitsburg money-raising battle in recent memory, said Denise Winnett, an administrative assistant at Waitsburg High School. Winnett said she has been with the district since 1980 and doesn't remember anything like it before.

On Friday when the students stretched out their paper-link chains, Waitsburg- Prescott was the clear winner over Dayton. WP raised $1,224 and Dayton raised $735.

Waitsburg's chain hung in the high school office and Winnett said its growth was kind of sporadic, but exciting. The competition really got fierce the last two days and kids emptied their pockets. Winnett said she would announce how much they had raised every hour and kids who donated would get to announce it over the loudspeaker as well.

"The kids were really into it the last day of school," she said.

The school-versus-school competitions that help the needy are a great idea. They incite school spirit and create unity while getting our kids out in the community. Lori Bartlow actually felt the same way and when she heard of other schools in the Spokane area battling for a good cause, she decided to start the competition here. Because of this idea, the American Cancer Society now gets nearly $2,000 to help find a cure for cancer and help those in need obtain preventative screenings.

Growing up, my high school in Bellevue never had this kind of competition. I didn't experience this kind of fundraising until I was 23 and living in Grays Harbor County. Aberdeen High School and Hoquiam High School went head-to-head in a competition called Foodball. Montesano and Elma high schools had a similar competition called Foodbowl. Both sets of schools collected canned foods and money and all of the proceeds went to food banks in their communities. Kids would stand on street corners with signs, hold special assemblies or talent shows and had classroom competitions. And there was always plenty of smack talk.

But this soon-to-be annual fundraiser of Waitsburg versus Dayton isn't even close to the only way our kids are helping the needy in our community.

Waitsburg High School has an entire club devoted to service called the Leo's Club.

"All they do are fundraisers," Winnett said.

Each fall, the club does a food drive where students collect food all week and go out into the city one evening to bring in as many canned goods as possible and the staff members of the district feed the kids chili. Often, classes will compete to create unity among the freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors. For this event, the club really gets the whole school involved, Winnett said.

In the spring, the club has a penny drive that each year benefits a different cause. The club recently held a penny drive to raise money for the Baker Family of Waitsburg and for the Spokane Guilds School and Neuromuscular Center.

Also, the National Honor Society chapter has adopted a stretch of Highway 12 and the students participate in highway cleanups twice a year. FFA even has a whole week devoted to community service as service is a major component in its programs and goals. In the holiday season, some students have also collected scarves, hats and socks for the needy.

Dayton High School students each year raise money for Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Spokane. The students collect money and have even held a music concert at the school.

"The students wanted to help kids at the hospital with cancer," said Shannon Turner, Dayton's ASB adviser.

Dayton students also participate in Relay for Life that is held for Columbia County on the high school track each year.