CHS LifeJackets raise $762.65 for Lymphoma and Leukemia Society
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Chester High School LifeJackets broke their own former record of $300.00 raised last year for this year's 2012 Pennies for patients Campaign. Pennies for Patients is an annual fund-raiser to help fight lymphoma and leukemia which are forms of cancer. The focus of the annual campaign is to assist the fight against childhood cancers. The 2012 CHS campaign raised a total of $762.65.
Chair-person for this year's effort was CHS junior LifeJacket Tawnee Keel. Keel also served as chair-person last year when the LifeJackets raised $300.00. This year Keel was assisted by sophomore LifeJacket Joseph Marks. Keel and Marks set out to raise $400.00 this year but surpassed that goal by $162.65 with the help of fellow LifeJackets, CHS students and basketball fans who attended several of the final CHS YellowJackets home basketball games of the 2011-2012 season.
Most of the money raised was from a school-wide homeroom competition. All homerooms were asked to bring their pocket change to homeroom throughout the three-week campaign. Change was entered into Pennies for Patients collection boxes and a running total was maintained to create competition among the 20 homerooms. Marks was the leader of this portion of the fund-raiser. At the end of the campaign the student body had raised a total of $408.82 from this portion of the overall fund-raiser.
The top homeroom in donations was Mr. Howie's homeroom. Howie's homeroom collected 137.11. His entire homeroom will receive a FREE pizza party Tuesday April 17 complete with soda. The Chester Dominos Pizza Store, managed by Nick Burch, will sponsor this event as the reward for the top homeroom fundraiser.
Other homerooms collected the following amounts: Mrs. Hammel ($100.30); Ms. Justinen ($32.36); Mr. Haxton ($25.00); Mr. Owen ($23.09); Mrs. Madrigal ($15.83); Mrs. Coop ($9.05); Mrs. Stegmann ($8.40); Mrs. White ($7.53); Mr. Lochhead ($7.48); Mrs. Hennrich ($5.88); Mrs. Meyer (4.65); Mrs. Fisher ($4.00); Mr. Colonel ($2.79); Mr. Spears ($2.71); Mrs. Courier ($2.39); Mrs. Wolters ($0.36) and Mr. Lee, Mr. Blechle and Mrs. Ray ($0.00).
The LifeJackets also sold paper pennies at several basketball games late in the season to help raised more money. The paper pennies were then taped to the wall of Colbert Gymnasium to let others know that basketball fans were contributing in the fight against leukemia and lymphoma. LifeJackets further sold the paper pennies throughout the day at school on several occasions. This portion of the fundraiser collected a total of $192.78.
A final portion of the fundraiser was the sale of delicious, homemade cookies at several home basketball games late in the season. Tawnee Keel and her mother made the cookies in their home kitchen and brought them to the basketball games. The cookies were a huge hit as the Keel's sold enough cookies to add another $161.05 to the fundraising total.
Special mention was made to a Chester High School student Robbie Williams who made the highest single donation to the 2012 Pennies for Patients Campaign. Williams saved money from his part-time job and made a $100.00 donation to his homeroom donation box.
Robbie's homeroom is Mrs. Hammel's homeroom. Hammel noted that Williams wanted to make the donation from his own personal savings and after consulting with his father who verified that the decision was Robbie's, she accepted the most gracious donation to her homeroom collection box.
The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing patient services. The main mission of the organization is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma and to improve the quality of life of patients and their families.
In the United States more than 12,000 children under the age of 21 are diagnosed with cancer every year. Approximately 3,000 do not survive. The leukemias represent 27 percent of all cancers occurring among children under the age of 20. The annual Pennies for patients Campaign helps to raise much-needed funding to help find cures for this deadly disease.
The Chester High School LifeJackets have taken part in the Pennies for Patients Campaign for many years and make their contributions to the Gateway Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in St. Louis, Missouri. Jennifer McKinney, Campaign Manager of the Gateway Chapter, noted that the Chester High School LifeJackets' efforts are greatly appreciated and that she is very proud of that organization for their hard work and contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Dr. Jim Beers, District # 139 Wellness Coordinator, is the CHS LifeJackets Sponsor. Beers states that he very proud of Tawnee keel and Joseph Marks for taking leading roles in managing this year's Pennies for Patients Campaign. He further notes that the entire LifeJackets organization/membership, the student body at CHS along with basketball fans, teachers and community members all helped to make the life-saving effort such a huge success for 2012.