With the conclusion of the class of 2027’s bake sale at the Boys Varsity Basketball game on the 31st of January, the class brings its number of fundraisers this year to a total of four. Despite this milestone, the class finds its ability to raise funds hindered by attendance issues.
“I have never attended a fundraiser, because, in my opinion, they don’t seem interesting and my friends usually don’t go to fundraisers,” sophomore Grant Cruz said.
Cruz is one of many among the class that feel uninterested in their class’ fundraisers, in spite of the fact that they collect money for their junior prom.
Class president Jane Carty identifies a similar problem in her class’ fundraisers.
“Attendance is always our biggest issue, especially since it can be difficult to attend events during the week, but we have had a steady flow of participants to keep us going,” Carty said.
While Carty and the class overall appreciates those who regularly attend the class fundraisers, the fact remains that more must be done.
In response to this, Carty, and other 2027 class officers, are intent on putting an end to the turnout drought at the class’ fundraisers. For example, 2027 Vice President Abigail Ambooken is thinking of new ways to reach her classmates.
“…we aim to diversify our fundraising efforts beyond restaurant fundraisers by introducing new events, such as a basketball tournament, to better engage our community and increase participation,” Ambooken said.
Besides the bake sale at the Varsity Boys basketball game, the class’ most recent fundraiser, all of the fundraisers have been at some kind of restaurant. However, with this new approach, Ambooken may find herself rejoicing in larger attendance numbers at her events.
Another approach to boost attendance, suggested by Jane Carty, is to gauge the opinions of those within the class themselves.
“We’re always open to suggestions and just recently did a poll to get some feedback from the sophomores on what kinds of events they would like to see us host, so we will definitely be taking that input into account during future planning,” Carty said.
Polling the students would certainly address the issue that sophomores like Grant Cruz are having with the class’ fundraisers, as it would give them the opportunity to vote for a few that might pique their interest.
Plus, should sophomores miss the polls, they are more than welcome to suggest anything that might interest them.
It’s evident that Carty and the other officers are doing their due diligence to boost their fundraising attendance, though they can’t do it alone. Be sure to keep up with their fundraisers on their class instagram page, @swhsclassof27, and move them one step closer to ending their turnout trouble.
