Sorosis Refurbishing Plan Benefits From a Pig Kiss
Dry Hollow principal Ajay Rundell spurred donations when he came to school in this pig costume. Students at the school raised thousands of dollars for trees at Sorosis Park in a Kiss the Pig fundraiser.
From Dry Hollow Elementary:
Did you know that every time a dry hollow teacher kisses a pig, a tree gets planted at sorosis park!?
Under the leadership of Co-Advisors, Courtney Kiser and Melissa Hollister, along with Principal Ajay Rundell, the Dry Hollow Student Council has always been one that loves to do things that help the community.
They have had food drives every year. They support UNICEF, and they have fundraisers for such organizations as the Children’s Cancer Society or the American Heart Association among many other things.
So, it was no big surprise to Mr. Kiser when he suggested a Kiss the Pig Fund raiser for the student council to have. Right away Student Body President Carter Crowe liked the idea. The council voted to have the contest, but they weren’t sure where the money raised was going to go.
Mr. Kiser happened to be browsing on his computer and saw that Wasco County Parks and Recreation was having a drive to raise money for refurbishing Sorosis Park and planting some trees. It was a park Mr. Kiser was really familiar with because in high school he had cross country practice there every day, and there were many times that his family had family reunions there as well.
One of the classes Mr. Kiser taught even has a canister buried in the time capsule there. And, last year, The Dalles High School had their graduation ceremony there and Mr. Kiser attended and served as their Master of Ceremonies.
He has had many good times at the park, but recently he was saddened when all the pine trees had to be removed. With that in mind, the student council voted unanimously to have the fundraiser for the park.
They made some really colorful and fun signs and the fundraiser/contest began on April 27th and ran until May 7th. When the final tally came in the students had raised over $2600 dollars. Many generous Dry Hollow families donated checks for $100 and more. Knowing that we were close to $3,000, an anonymous donor offered to make a check out for $400, so we could reach a total that we’ve never raised before in any fundraiser.
Each class had a Kiss the Pig jar to put donations in. after two weeks, the classes totaled their collections. Emily Stewart’s class had collected the most donations with a total of $495. Several other classes had over $300 collected. Because Mrs. Stewart’s class got the most money they got to choose who would kiss the Pig!
Who did they choose?
Ms. Stewart, of course.
