Bubblegum Fundraiser Brings In The Dough

Mar 27, 2014

Samantha Snider is a take charge kind of girl. When the nine-year-old grade 4 student at Harrowsmith Public School learned that not only had two Harrowsmith students lost their house but also their pets, it saddened her.

Not willing to remain in that state for long, Samantha decided to do something. All she could think of doing was raising money for the family to get back on their feet. She approached her teacher, Mrs. Thayer with the idea of allowing students to wear a hat of their choosing and chew gum during the two first periods for a donation of $2.

When Ms. Thayer sent Samantha, and a friend for moral support, to talk to the school's principal about her idea, it made her a bit nervous. After all, gum is not exactly encouraged in the school.

“She said yes, and then I told her I wanted to make a poster and about how I wanted to run it and she said it was a good plan. It was a lot of work just before the day but everything went really, really well,” Samantha said.

“This was clearly a very special case, said Principal Val Arsenault, “because of the cause, which is dear to all our hearts, and because of Samantha's determination to organize the event.”

Val Arsenault sent an email to all the students’ parents informing them about the event, reinforcing the message from the poster. The email also said that parents could send in more than $2 if they wanted to and all the money would go to the family.

The event took place on Thursday, March 6, which was already an exciting day for students as it was the day before the March break. Having many of the students wearing all different kinds of hats, and being able to chew gum at school just added to the festive atmosphere.

“I though maybe we would raise about $300 but lots of families sent $5 and $10, even $20, but when the total was $700 I was really surprised. That's a lot more than I thought. It made me feel good to do something nice for somebody.” said Samantha.

She does not expect to chew gum at school that often however. Although she said she “loves gum”, she understands why it is normally not allowed in school.

“It's pretty rude to chew gum in front of teachers,” she said.

A roast pork dinner, dance & silent auction fundraiser for the family is coming up on April 11 in Verona. Tickets are $15 per person or $35 per family and can be purchased through the St. Paul's church office at 372-2525 or from Marni Pedersen at 374-9929. More details next week.