Four Morton Junior High School students' science class project on environmentally friendly Christmas gifts has evolved into a nationwide fundraiser for Washington tornado victims.
With the help of teacher Jessica Heller, eighth-graders Grant Churchill, Haegan Kelly, Zach Marchildon and Blayze Williams are selling orange "Washington Strong" wristbands for $2 each with profits going to the American Red Cross.
Thanks to posts on the "Washington IL Tornado Recovery" Facebook page, the first batch of 1,000 wristbands was sold out in 24 hours.
Another batch of 1,000 wristbands has been ordered and is expected to arrive at the junior high school early this week. More than 200 have already been sold.
"These students are every teachers' dream," Heller said. "You want your students to make a difference in their community."
Three school days into their original project and two days after the Nov. 17 tornadoes, the students asked Heller if they could switch gears.
"Here we were doing a project on Christmas gifts, and there were people out there who had lost everything," said Churchill.
The students worked on a business proposal to sell wristbands and presented it three days later to Assistant Principal Chris Carter, who approved the plan.
Principal Lee Hoffman approved the second batch.
CMFI Group of Peoria has produced the wristbands "at a huge discount," Heller said, charging $400 for 1,000.
Amy Churchill, Grant's mother, donated $200 toward the cost of the second batch.
Heller said she don't yet how much money the original batch raised because some purchasers bought them for more than $2 and $5 was charged for shipping.
"I mailed them to Chicago, Washington, D.C., Washington state, Texas, Florida, Iowa ..." she said. "One person in Iowa gave us $50 for a wristband."
People came to the junior high school to get their wristbands, and they were sold at Five Points Washington.
The students say they're shocked by the success of their fundraiser.
"I never thought we'd sell that many," Churchill said.
"I didn't think we'd sell any of them outside our school, but our teacher had the good idea to put them on Facebook," Marchildon said.
To buy a wristband, call Morton Junior High School at 266-6522 or send an email to Heller at 8thgradescience709@gmail.com.
Wristbands also are being sold at Five Points Washington, 360 N. Wilmor Road. Shipping remains $5.
Original Source: http://www.pjstar.com/article/20131215/NEWS/131219400
