Putting the fun in FUNdraiser
Students line up in front of Cheesie’s food truck. Streetfest had a variety of food available including tacos, soul food, and bundt cakes.
On Sept. 8, roughly 2100 students, families and members of the community gathered in Lot E for National Honor Society’s annual Streetfest.
“It’s a really great way at the beginning of the year to celebrate together and build a culture of service,” said community service coordinator and NHS sponsor Brett Erdmann.
The event hosted several food trucks and booths, a DJ and games. It also featured student performances, including one by Samhita Madduru ’20, the winner of last year’s S-Factor competition.
“It is such a great honor to come together with the school and the community to sing with and for them,” Madduru said. “It creates a more tight knit student body.”
The event also acted as a fundraiser, collecting money for three charities: the Danny Did Foundation, which raises awareness about epilepsy, the Special Gifts Theatre, which gives individuals with special needs a chance to perform while developing social, speech and confidence skills through its educational and therapeutic approach and Equestrian Connection, a group that provides equine and specialty therapies for the special needs community. These organizations were selected by NHS members last May at a weekly committee meeting.
Representatives of these chosen charities appreciated the opportunity to share their messages with the Stevenson community. “There are 4000 students at Stevenson who might not be aware if our cause, or may not know how to respond if they witness a seizure,” Tom Stanton, executive director of the Danny Did Foundation, said. “The chance to bring epilepsy awareness to this student community is huge for us. It helps us to spread our reach and make new relationships.”
Like Stanton, Kayla McCraren, volunteer coordinator for Equestrian Connection, referred to the importance of spreading awareness, especially in terms of reaching potential volunteers. Elise Larsen, executive director of the Special Gifts Theatre, also noted the significance of the financial contributions, as they allow the group to put on their programming which impacts hundreds of families each year.
“I think Streetfest is wonderful,” Madduru said. “It’s a lot of fun and you get to raise money for a lot of good causes.”
For more information on any of the charities listed above, please visit: https://www.dannydid.org