West Shore Connect students fund fun and learning with sales
The fundraisers help support the West Shore School District program
By Elijah Huhn
Knightly News Reporter
elijah.huhn@mymail.centralpenn.edu
Since its humble beginnings in 2021, the West Shore Connect Program, run by the West Shore School District, has helped students who graduated from high school and have intellectual disabilities or autism, or both (like me).
The program has offered students on-campus jobs, classes they can audit, clubs to join and participate in and other on-campus activities such as hanging out in the Underground, Connection Tuesdays and others.
Photo by Elijah Huhn
Some of these activities, such as the holiday party, graduation party and some off-campus trips, are made possible by the fundraisers we hold during the fall and spring.
The fundraiser money helps us organize activities and lets us buy products for our campus suite, such as cleaning supplies – all in exchange for mouth-watering popcorn, subs and pizzas.
During the first year, there were no fundraisers. However, the following year, there was a fundraiser in the autumn of 2022. Members of the program sold popcorn from Two Brothers Popcorn.
The next fall, the popcorn fundraiser returned, a new fundraiser was held last spring. That fundraiser featured subs from Market Street Deli. Unfortunately, Two Brothers Popcorn went out of business recently, so we could no longer sell popcorn.
Thankfully, we found another business that would help with fundraisers for this term. We sold subs and pizzas from Marianna’s from the beginning of the term until Oct. 25, with the orders arriving on Nov. 12. Usually, each of our fundraisers bring in $300 to $500. This year, we sold 87 subs and 38 pizzas, for 125 items that rang up to $365.
The fundraisers greatly help us with preparations for the holidays and graduation parties the program has. For the holiday party, the money can be used toward paying for a catered lunch provided by Sassy Gourmet, along with paper plates, napkins, paper cups and plastic utensils. And for the graduation party, the money can be used for a breakfast spread as well as for gifts for the graduating students.
We also use the money for off-campus activities, including outings to Strawberry Square and the state capitol building, in Harrisburg.
The money also allows us to buy cleaning supplies we use to clean the suite, including wipes, paper towels, dusting spray, Windex and toilet-bowl cleaners.
West Shore Connect is a great program at our campus that helps intellectually disabled students aim for their futures and gives them opportunities to get out and have fun with others during the 3 or so years they can be in the program.
And some of those fun activities are made possible by people who help with our fundraisers.
I would like to thank everyone who donated to our fundraisers. Without your support, who knows if this program could last for a while?
I, and the rest of the West Shore Connect students, hope you will help us again during the spring fundraiser, or other future fundraisers.
Comment or story idea? Contact KnightlyEditors@CentralPenn.Edu.
Edited by media-club co-adviser Professor Michael Lear-Olimpi.
