Doing Good in School: DFW Students Fundraising for Disaster Relief

by Micaela Rosinski, intern contributor 

Big thanks to Curtis Middle School students who
raised money for Red Cross disaster relief!

In the midst of a scary and destructive storm season, youth around the Dallas-Fort Worth area wanted to help those around them in crisis. Students of all ages got creative and found ways to raise money to help the Red Cross bring relief to those in need.

A group of eighth grade students at Curtis Middle School in Allen teamed together to raise money for Red Cross disaster relief. Allison Corona Del Cid, a student at the middle school, headed the fundraising efforts. 

“We started just taking money out of our wallets. In one day we already had around a hundred bucks,” Corona Del Cid said. “We were like, ‘Hey, if we keep doing this, you know, we can really make a difference.’”

She said they began making lists of different events they could host to get as many people as possible involved. The students had a variety of different sales to raise money, such as bake sales and candy sales. Corona Del Cid said they even created incentives to motivate classmates.

“We started giving more and more money, and we made it a little competition between our classes to make people want it more,” Corona Del Cid said.

The efforts of Curtis students were successful as $2,200 was given to the Red Cross.

Fossil Ridge High School students raised more than
$3000 for disaster relief!

At Fossil Ridge High School in Keller, students and faculty collaborated to put a different kind of donation drive into action. The drive was the brain-child of the school’s principal, David Hadley, and Hillary White, a FRHS AVID teacher. The drive was named “Thanks Not Pranks” in an attempt to deter students from committing end-of-year pranks, and help those in need instead.

“We wanted to put the words [Thanks Not Pranks] into action,” White said. “I asked about helping the tornado victims and Mr. Hadley said as long as it is good for kids, we can do it.”

White said she chose the Red Cross to receive the donation because she knows the work of the organization and she has seen them in action.

With the whole school involved, everyone from students, faculty, staff and even school organizations raised money. Spencer Strong, a junior at FRHS, put her musical talents to use and raised funds by playing people songs.

“I’ve seen people on television play and sing,” Strong said. “So, I decided to try it, too.”

Strong’s efforts allowed her to raise $160 to put towards the “Thanks Not Pranks” campaign. As a whole, participants at Fossil Ridge raised over $3,000 for the Red Cross, which goes toward providing food, water, relief supplies, health services and emotional support for disaster victims.

In Arlington, students at Goodman Elementary School collected enough change to purchase a $67 Lowe’s gift card for the Red Cross to purchase relief supplies to assist tornado victims. Students also took time to create cards and drawings in addition to the financial donation.

“I had gone out to speak at the school about the Red Cross,” said Lilly Watson, communications manager at the Dallas Red Cross. “One of their questions was what children could do for the Red Cross.” 

Watson suggested a coin collection or lemonade sale. After receiving a call that $67 had been raised, Watson said the students were excited and had worked very hard to pull their change together.

During these times of disasters in the area, it has become evident that children and adults of all ages can help those in need and make a difference. You can join in Red Cross relief efforts by making a donation at redcross.org, texting REDCROSS to 90999 or calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. Our sincerest thanks for everyone who has already made a difference by donating.

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