Class of 2023 Experiences Fundraising Lack

The Junior Class poster in the 200 building reveals the class is well short of its $10,000 goal. (image via Justice Petersen)

This year's Junior Class is struggling with money. The class has $2,000, a meager amount compared to the Sophomore Class ($10,000) and the Senior Class ($20,000). The lack of funds could result in the Class of 2023 not being able to fund upcoming events, including prom.

"It's all contingent upon what you want your senior activities to look like," Leadership Advisor Kevin Gorham said. "So it depends on the venue you choose for prom, it depends on where you want to go for Senior Picnic, it depends on if you want to have the banquet on a boat or some other venue. Cost is really relative based upon the priorities of the Senior activities."

The COVID lockdown made fundraising hard for the class of 2023.

"The Junior Class' ability to raise money was dramatically compromised because of COVID… the problem is halfway through their freshman year COVID hit… they tried to do events like Chipotle…" Gorham said. "The problem is that all of these establishments were unwilling to be a part of a fundraiser because their business was so compromised because of the pandemic."

With traditional fundraising not working, the class officers are thinking outside of the box. The class is holding a book sale at the Farmers' Market on Saturday, January 22 to help raise funds.

(image via @ehsclassof_2023)

Currently, the class is far from its fundraising goal of $10,000 by the end of the year.

"We have vigilantly been planning and calendarizing many fundraisers including Ole’s, book sales, Lola’s, etc.," said class officer Vinny Camarillo. "In February alone, we have 5 fundraisers confirmed and we are continuing that into March as we have so far two confirmed for that month. We also have a zoom parent conference to update the class of 2023 parents and ask for their support/donations. we are staying optimistic and thinking creatively to try (and hopefully) reach our goal of $10,000."

Many juniors, are disappointed about the current financial situation, but remain hopeful.

"It really sucks we were deprived of last year’s opportunity to fundraise due to lockdown," said junior Sadie Merry. "I think it would be smart to reach out to the parents of our students requesting $20 just to help fund our class. I know a lot of people who want to donate and help us reach our goal and I think our leadership should take advantage of that."

"There's just a lot of factors that have added into a bit of a crisis as far as ability for the Junior Class to have the necessary funding for going into next year. They're going to have to work closely with their advisor and have a strategy going into this second semester," said Gorham. "This is really going to be important for them. And there may have to be some fundraising going on over the summer too."

Families can donate by dropping off cash or check at the banking office. Checks are made payable to "Encinal High School," with the memo line "Class of 2023."

Kelly Quach contributed to this article.