$145,135.22. That’s how much money Cedar Cliff’s 2019 Mini-THON raised the weekend of Feb. 23-24 to help the Four Diamonds Fund and pediatric cancer research.  That is a whopping $86,538.22 increase from Cedar Cliff’s very first 2014 Mini-THON, which collected $58,597.

Not only did the committee and supporters exceed their 2019 fundraising goal, but they surpassed the 2018 donations by an impressive $38,947.22.  And they broke a record in doing so.

Student overall Mini-THON leaders were Allison Dalby, Sophie Gregory and Katie LaFaver.

 “We pushed really hard for every single fundraiser that we had to try and get the best turnout,” said LaFaver.  “We also pushed Donor Drive extremely hard to try to get kids to raise money in easy and fun ways on social media.”

This year Cedar Cliff raised more money in corporate donations than any other school has ever raised. A key reason for such a successful 2019 fundraising year is due to the work of Bella Anderson, Corporate Committee Head for Mini-THON and her whole committee.  As a result, Anderson has been asked to speak at the Mini-Thon Leadership Summit meeting this summer to guide all other schools on how to raise corporate funds.

Gregory said communication between the overalls, committee heads, and advisors was extremely successful.  “We also had extreme success delegating the work. We felt everyone did their share and no one was overworked.

Other committees helped 2019 Mini-THON to be a success:

Finance & Registration: Maggie Conklin, Karina Chima

Entertainment & operations: Garrett Helvy, Sydney Boyle

Fundraising: Devon Bertram, Caitlynn Leffler

Corporate Sponsors: Bella Anderson

Food: Brandon Koch, Mackenzie Eng

Communications: Regan Robinson, Maddie Foster

Faculty advisers:  Amy Dando, Meagan Beekler, and Shallyn Leland

 On behalf of the faculty advisers, Dando expressed her appreciation and thanks to the faculty, staff, and administration.  “The kids truly appreciate your support throughout the year and recognize that it takes a team to make their efforts possible.”

Having enough time for things affected some of their planning.  “We had a few things we wanted to do that we could not execute,” Dalby said, “and the things we were able to do were sometimes very stressful due to the time crunch.”  Dalby said if they could go back they would start planning earlier for fundraisers and things they wanted to do.

Despite timing and a few obstacles, LaFaver said they are happy with this year’s results.  “We focused on the goal and where the money was going for inspiration, and we were able to overcome a variety of barriers.”  The overall mini-THON leaders think it was successful in both the fundraising aspect and the actual event aspect. 

“We hope everyone had fun because we did,” Gregory said.  The leaders wish the best of luck to the next committee and hope their THON is very successful. 

“The hard work always pays off when you see where the money goes and what you are doing to help those who need it more than you do,” Dalby said.