BY ISABELLE BRAUN
Hays High DECA chapter members sold raffle tickets at the mall on Nov. 16 to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. With help from community members and the DECA chapter, from 1 p.m. 5:30 p.m., they were able to raise over $300. The winners have not been announced yet.
The event was organized by Hays High juniors Maggie Robben, Allison Brooks and Emmy Morley, the three who took over the Ronald McDonald House Community Service Project for DECA.
Hays High junior Alexis Pfannenstiel scans the items up for raffle after filling out her tickets. Pfannenstiel chose to go for spa items when making her decision.
“For the event, we went to businesses throughout town and asked them to donate a basket of items, and then we sold tickets at the mall so people could be put in a drawing to win the baskets,” Brooks said. “We had 14 baskets and tickets were $1.”
Hays High junior Maggie Robben explains what the charities are to those who ask. Robben is one of three heads on the project and will carry it until her senior year when she graduates.
The items up for raffle included products from Simply Charmed, Kuhn’s Diamond Jewelers, Midwest Energy, Popt, Quit Cottage, McDonalds, Salon 1007, Hairware, Body and Soul and Regeenas, as well as two anonymous donors.
“We had beauty products, candles, wine glasses, Christmas china, popcorn, fudge, coffee classes, ornaments, a water bottle, snacks, and barbies,” Robben said.
All of the money from this event will be going to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Wichita, which provides families a place to stay when their child is being treated at Wesley Medical Center.
“This year the houses in Wichita are focusing on a family centered care, which means they want to make the houses feel more like a home and less like a temporary place to stay,” Brooks said. “The money our project raises is going towards things like crafts or activities that the families can do together while they stay at the house.”