By Julia Schultz
The Mahomet-Seymour High School Freshmen Mentoring Program (FMP) has already raised about $2,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) through their Pennies for Pasta fundraiser, which ends on Dec. 4.
Raising money for the LLS is a long-time Mahomet-Seymour tradition. Focusing on those locally who have blood cancer, the Pennies for Pasta fundraiser became a way that the program that relies on upper classmen to form relationships with younger students could give back.
Mahomet-Seymour Health Education and FMP teacher Lisa Martin remembers being approached by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society over a decade ago with a well-organized fundraiser that could create an opportunity to include a lot of students.
“The organizers were very good at communicating and helping us as we learned how we could assist them in their effort to raise funds for those with blood cancers,” Martin said.
In the first years, before the FMP program was developed, the student council led the effort.
“The Student Council asked us if we would like to take it over,”Martin said. “(The FMP program) lent itself well to the competition aspect and knew it would be a way to add some fun to supporting a wonderful cause.”
In early November, the FMP cohorts work to raise money by collecting donations from family and friends. The group that raises the most money is rewarded with a pasta party from the Olive Garden.
“(The Olive Garden) support(s) our school district in many ways and this is just one of them,” said Martin,
Martin said that the FMP mentors are great at pushing students to donate to the cause.
“Some mentors get creative with how they will raise the funds. This year we have a ‘Penny War’ competition happening between a couple of advisories” said Martin.
The teams, divided by their advisory assignments, a period focused on specialty subjects for Mahomet-Seymour students, differ on the level of participation.
“Each team is presented with the opportunity, but not required to participate. Some years, we have advisories that raise under $50 and others that raise over $2000.” said Martin.
Despite how much the teams raise, the main objective of Pennies for Pasta is to give back to the community and spread awareness.
On the same note, FMP doesn’t set a goal for how much money they want to raise.
“We don’t set goals, or limits, really,” said Martin, “We just want students to be able to participate at a level they are comfortable with, if at all. We don’t want them to feel pressured.”
In all the years of doing the Leukemia/Lymphoma fundraiser, the advorises have donated over $3000 a year.
“Team Andracke has led the way each year- donating the majority of that $3000,” said Martin, “I will say that it does provide opportunities for team bonding and strategizing as it can give a learning platform of how to communicate with others and also build skills important for managing funds and organizing a fundraiser.”
One of the fortunate aspects of this fundraiser is that it has always been run through an online platform, therefore COVID hasn’t put much of a damper on this event.
“Students can raise funds through asking friends/family or they can use the online platform that is provided through LLS.” said Martin.
If you would like to donate to the Leukemia/Lymphoma Fundraiser, please visit https://www.herosquad.org/.
Last Friday, the Panda Express on North Prospect helped out by donating 20-percent of each sale for customers who brought in a Pennies for Pasta flier.
“The community has been a large part of our donor pool- we are thankful for that,” said Martin.
