Over the past ten years, the students in the Churchville-Chili Senior High Functional School Life Skills class have raised almost $7,000 for local charities. This year, they presented a check for $897.80 to Campaign Specialist Gail Floros of the Rochester Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Their fundraising strategy? Every year they handcraft hundreds of unique holiday decorations – in 2014, merry little Christmas trees – market them, take orders and set pricing, and deliver the finished products to their customers. In the process, they learn valuable skills: math, business, creativity and communications.
The eight young entrepreneurs made a total of 255 trees, filled with 300 lbs. of rice. Their efforts were guided, as they have been since 2005, by Special Education teacher Margaret Brongo. Over the past decade she has helped them create snowmen, angels, Santas, elves, penguins, reindeer, polar bears, abominable snowmen and mice. The proceeds have gone to Golisano Children’s Center, Ronald McDonald House, American Cancer Society, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Honor Flight, Make a Wish, Lollypop Farm, The American Red Cross and the School of the Holy Childhood. Assisting this year were TA Laurie Kalwas, Arlene Starke, Barb Mak and TA Anne Saeva.
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