Members of the Crawfordsville High School Sunshine Society and Tri Kappa sorority are again joining forces to help make the holidays brighter for area families in need through the Cheer Certificate program.
Today marks the official kickoff of the 109th annual campaign, and organizers have set a goal to raise $12,000 in just a few short weeks.
“In the midst of this pandemic we expect the need to be even greater than in years past,” said Tiffany Sinnet, CHS Sunshine Society co-sponsor.
The seasonal fundraising effort is a long-standing collaboration between high school club members and the local sorority chapter.
“The Cheer Certificate campaign is important because it allows Sunshine Society to be involved in giving back to the community,” said Megan Buser, Sunshine Society president.
Campaign organizers solicit financial donations from community members and then award those funds to local families in the form of cheer certificates. These certificates may be redeemed for grocery items at Kroger in Crawfordsville. Certificates range in value according to family size.
Last year, the campaign raised $10,941 and assisted more than 200 families.
“My favorite part of the Cheer Certificate campaign is how it allows Sunshine Society to be more involved in the community,” said Frannie Fuller, club vice president. “It allows for us to help those in need during the holiday season.”
The campaign is made up of two phases, both of which begin today. The referral phase lasts one week, while the donation phase continues through mid-January.
During the referral phase residents may nominate an individual or family to receive a cheer certificate. All referrals must be on an official form or a form that contains all of the same information. The official form appears in today’s edition of the Journal Review and can be found online at www.journalreview.com. The form will be published throughout the referral phase, which ends Dec. 4.
All of the information included on the form should be printed or typed clearly and correctly. A person may submit up to four referrals. Completed referral forms may be mailed to P.O. Box 368, Crawfordsville, IN 47933, and must be postmarked by Dec. 4.
At the conclusion of the referral phase, Tri Kappa sorority members sort the referrals and generate a list of eligible recipients. This process usually takes two working days as all of the names are entered into a database to make certain that no one is missed and that no family or individual gets more than one certificate.
Once a list of eligible recipients is generated the second phase of the campaign begins — raising the donations and issuing certificates.
Too often the list of eligible recipients exceeds the available funds, so each year eligible recipients who did not receive a certificate are moved to the top of the list the following year.
“I encourage people to donate,” said Elizabeth Bowling, Sunshine Society member and Cheer Certificate chair. “I know that times may be a little tough because of COVID, but if you have money to spare, then you should consider giving it to people who don’t.”
Donation forms will appear regularly in the Journal Review and are available online at www.journalreview.com. Donations may be made in honor of or in memory of family or friends, or the donations may be made anonymously. Donations should be mailed to the Sunshine Society, P.O. Box 243, Crawfordsville, IN 47933. All donor names will be printed in the Journal Review.
All donations remain in the community. Donations are accepted through mid-January as the cheer certificates are valid until February.
