The West Bend Current

Here’s a new wrinkle for Charity Week. This year, the Student Council will be happy to accept your coins, and your pocket, too.

The West Bend High Schools will hold the annual charity dance on Saturday. Leading up to the dance, students will make donations throughout the week. The featured charities will receive all proceeds. Though this is a recurring event, a new charity is being introduced this year, one whose main mission is to acquire clothing and other necessities for foster families.

STUCO takes charge of all things charity dance. Planning the event, picking the theme, decorating the space, and hiring the DJ are all things done by the council. They raise awareness and promote the dance through social media, announcements and posters.

Randy Reysen, West social studies teacher and one of the STUCO advisors, came up with the idea to not only collect monetary donations, but to also run a clothing drive.

“I am consistently impressed with how the students represent the high school,” Reysen said.

This unique opportunity for students to support families in need was not solely a staff-made decision, but was made possible by the work of students. STUCO members Ruby Kelly and Amanda Hull volunteered to organize this new charity. When Reysen proposed the idea, it was very basic and bare-bones, and Ruby and Amanda were tasked with figuring out the details of how it was going to be run and organized.

“In the past we have only accepted money as donations to the charities, but this year we are having a weeklong clothing drive so that we can donate more to the Washington County Foster Closet,” Hull said.

STUCO is always looking for ways to expand Charity Week so that the school can have a bigger impact on the community. This year STUCO figured that a clothing drive would have a very tangible impact, especially when working with the Foster Closet.

They have coordinated with school custodians to have six bins placed throughout the school for students to put clothing items in. Students and staff can drop off items at any time during Charity Week. At the end of the week, STUCO will drop the clothes off at the Foster Closet.

“The Foster Closet is always in need of clothing donations and are amazing at what they do, so this gives them the opportunity to use the monetary donations in other areas, relieving the burden of providing clothes,” Hull said.

Over the four years of a student’s high school career they will be exposed to 24 charitable organizations from school alone. This week students will be exposed to six different charities. There has been a total of $524,463 raised over 21 years worth of charity weeks, starting in 2004.

Though STUCO members are adjusting to planning Charity Week without advisor Skip Clark after his retirement last year, East social studies teacher Michael Schuette has done a “fantastic job” stepping into the role. STUCO members appreciate how easy he is to work with and his eagerness to help, jumping in to assist with organizing this new charity partnership wherever help was needed.

The Foster Closet Drive is an opportunity for anyone, regardless of financial means, to give back to their community. If students or anyone in their house has clothes that don’t fit or aren’t being worn, STUCO is bringing forward an opportunity to give them a second chance.

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Top image: Ruby Kelly prepares for Charity Week. Photo by Chloe Taylor, Current Staff.