HOULTON, Maine – In a Giving Tuesday experiment, the Houlton High School Alumni Association is trying to raise enough money to give a yearbook to everyone in the Class of 2024.
This is the first time the alumni association has tackled a Giving Tuesday fundraising event and they are not sure what to expect, said association executive director Jon McLaughlin.
“It’s basically an experiment for the association to see if this is a good annual way to raise some quick funds for smaller special projects,” he said. “Giving Tuesday is not a new event, but it is for the Association and this first one is a learning curve for us.”
The alumni association had been approached about helping with this project and since they hadn’t ever done anything with Giving Tuesday, they wanted to give it a try, said Alumni Association President Nancy Ketch.
“We’ve been sending emails to our alums in our database, we’ve had ads running,” she said. “We’re hoping that people will respond.”
Now in its 10th year, Giving Tuesday has inspired global generosity to others and in the United States alone 37 million adults participated last year with over $3.1 billion in donations, according to Giving Tuesday Data Commons.
Each year the alumni association honors the graduating class with a gift. For several years they have gotten a DVD of their graduation ceremony as well as close to $100,000 in scholarships, said Ketch.
And with this year’s gift, if they reach their goal, 100 students will be able to have a $60 yearbook that might not have been possible without the association.
According to McLaughlin, the Association’s Fundraising Committee decided that they would do what they can to see that every student gets a yearbook regardless of whether they are able to afford one or not.
“Once the event is over, we will assess how much we raised and then make a decision on how best to proceed – if we don’t raise enough money for all 100, do we augment it with other funds to make up the difference ourselves or continue the Giving Tuesday request for a few more days,” McLaughlin said.
To donate to the association’s Giving Tuesday campaign visit their Facebook page.
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