Tyson Tigers Raise Over $7,000 for Wheelchair Foundation

When Tyson Elementary Gifted and Talented teacher Cathy Crouch got the idea to do a fundraiser for the international Wheelchair Foundation last year, she hoped that each grade at the school would raise at least $75. The Tigers ended up raising over $5,000 enough to purchase 33 wheelchairs what would be sent to the disabled in Mexico. So when Crouch began planning this years wheelchair fundraiser, she knew that the sky was the limit. Even so, Tyson students managed to exceed her expectations. “My goal this year was to be able to buy at least as many wheelchairs as we did last year”, says Crouch. This year they raised enough to buy ninety-five wheelchairs. Enough to buy ninety-five wheelchairs equates to roughly $7000. Each wheelchair costs $150, but the International Wheelchair Foundation matches every $75 raised with another $75. So for every $75 students at Tyson raised, a wheelchair was gained. While she still incorporated economics into the fundraising effort, Crouch took a different approach to the project this year. “It was different because we didnt sell anything. We focused on human capital”, says Crouch. Human capital involves the valuable things everyone has to offer that don’t cost anything like knowledge and acts of service. The best thing was that they learned from adults is that they have to work to make money. This time they couldnt just ask grandma. What’s great is that income level was not a factor in this project. Students who wanted to do it found a way. Acts of service are what the Tigers utilized when they went to work to raise money for the Wheelchair Foundation. Students cleaned bathrooms, raked leaves, took out the trash anything for a little cash to go towards purchasing a wheelchair. “Even though you’re giving stuff away youre gaining something”, says Stephanie Grace, a Tyson fifth-grader. “It’s just knowing that you helped someone, and youre gaining self-respect”. Natasha Raezer, another fifth-grader added, “Plus parents are happy because they have a clean bathroom”. Also, to prepare for the fundraising effort, Tyson GT students created display boards detailing the problem, alternate solutions and the options available for accomplishing their money-raising goals. As a reward for their efforts, students who raised any money at all got their name on the front of the stage in the cafeteria. Students and teachers who raised $75 or more got their names placed on the wall in one of the schools hallways. In addition to the money raised by the Tigers, Tyson Foods donated $400 dollars towards the cause and Weyerhaeuser gave $300. To celebrate the remarkable fundraising effort, the entire student body along with many parents recently walked to Tyson Cooperate headquarters where they were presented with the checks from Tyson and Weyerhaeuser. Another $500 was added when Crouch won an award for an economics fair project. “I told my students, ok, if we win this Im going to donate the $500 prize to the Wheelchair Foundation”, says Crouch. The recipients of the wheelchairs in Mexico are hand-picked by the international Wheelchair Foundation as those who have the most need of a chair and no way of getting one. “Before they receive the wheelchairs many of them can only get around by crawling or having someone carry them”, says Crouch, who traveled to Mexico last year to deliver the chairs. Another touching aspect of the project is that chairs can be dedicated to someone special. During last years Wheelchair Foundation fundraiser at Tyson, a chair was dedicated to one of the school’s students who was killed in a four-wheeler accident. As a follow up to the fundraiser, Crouch talked with students about the character traits they learned from the project. The most important thing the Tigers learned was service above self, which also happens to be Rotarys motto. The Tyson Tigers are always “Roaring With Pride”, but during this years Wheelchair Foundation Fundraiser, they were “Rolling With Pride”. Raising enough money to change the lives of nearly 100 disabled people is definitely something to be proud of.