Three senior girls in the Oxford High School DECA program want to help families with hospitalized children, and they need your help.
Allie Burgess, Nicole Gallo and Sara Pollack have been working on their Civic Consciousness project for the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit since the beginning of the school year and are in the process of finishing their fundraising.
For being their first year in DECA, the girls were brave enough to take on a somewhat difficult task.
They said other students in DECA tend to work on certain research projects while others learn how to start a business. The Civic Consciousness project, however, asks a little bit more time of the students.
‘You go into it (knowing) it’s really hard to get placed with this type of project,? Sara Pollack said.
DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America and is the only international student organization operating through schools to attract young people to careers in marketing, merchandising, management and entrepreneurship.
Its purpose is to teach occupational proficiency and to promote understanding and appreciation for the responsibilities of citizenship in our competitive enterprise system.
When fundraising is completed at the end of this month, their research paper on the project will be entered into a statewide competition in March and then possibly into a national competition.
‘It’s kind of like a sport, you just compete with a paper,? explained Gallo.
The girls chose to work with the Ronald McDonald House of Detroit because they each wanted to learn more about the helpful charity which supports hospitalized children and their parents.
Large amounts of bottles and pounds of aluminum pop tabs are being collected, while candy and rubber bracelets are also being sold for their fundraising.
Besides collecting for the Ronald McDonald House, the girls are also seeking donations for the Michael Magdeleno Scholarship Fund.
So far, they have collected $300 in donations and over 100,000 pop tabs, but they can always use more.
Although, the project isn’t just about a competition to these girls.
‘I don’t think we look at it as a competition,? Burgess said. ‘I think we look at it as helping people.?
To donate to the girls? DECA fundraising, contact Steve Ruch at OHS at (248) 969-5100 ext. 4157.