Mercy for Mercyfull, the Plant High School fundraiser, came to a close on Friday afternoon. We collected a multitude of donations that will be greatly appreciated by both the animals and the volunteers. I spearheaded the preparation, organization, collection, and everything in between. In this article, I hope to explain how I accomplished this so that Plant students can do the same in the future to help the community. 

Preparation 

The fundraiser was not simple to organize, let alone get approved. It was a process, much like most things in high school. I began by talking with the director of the animal shelter and receiving approval for the event. Then, I had to find out how to approve an event like this. After speaking with some of my teachers, I learned that Jenise Gorman was in charge of sanctioning these events. I spoke with her and worked diligently on a request form. It consisted of the purpose of the fundraiser, where and when it would occur, whether it required funds and any other logistical issues. Thankfully, I had already addressed most of the issues.  

As this was a donation drive, as long as I did all of my promotion and collection, it would require no funds. This, along with the fundraiser’s purpose, made it easy to approve. Now came the difficult part. 

Organization 

After the event’s approval, which would occur from Nov. 12th to the 15th, I had to get to work. I brought boxes to the collection areas, room 125 and the front office to prepare for the incoming donations. The organization involved not only bringing boxes to rooms but also promoting them. 

I set aside time and created a poster with details of the drive, when, what was needed, and how the student population could help. I printed them out, brought them to Gorman, and had her sign off before taking them across the school. With the help of some of my friends, I hung up posters all around the school and in various classrooms in order to spread the word. That was a major step, but I would have to do more than that if I wanted to get the word out to Plant. 

I spoke with various clubs, including The Plant Yearbook, Speak Up, The Animal Project, Student Government, and more. We collaborated and created Instagram posts that all the clubs posted. This significantly helped to spread the word and was the final part of the promotion needed to make this donation drive well known. 

Collection 

Tuesday was the first day of the donation drive, marked by a large wave of donations. Over the next week, donations piled up and were collected on Friday. There were 25 bowls, 8 bags of food, 14 bags of treats, 25 toys, 11 blankets, 21 towels, and so much more. Mercyfull and I are incredibly thankful for the help from Plant and are very blessed that we are able tocome together as a community to accomplish things for the good of everyone! 

Reflection 

Looking back, there was a multitude of things that could have been done differently. One friend of mine, Emma Brown, stated that, “You could have gotten more teacher involved to spread the word to more students”. That would have allowed for me to reach more of the student population, and make the fundraiser more successful than it already was. In addition with that, Sophia Ventura stated that I could have, “Given out something little like candy to incentivize students to come without outweighing your donation profits”. In retrospect, there were many things I could have done differently; However, it was still a “success” according to both Emma and Sophia, and I am happy with the outcome. 

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