Successful Casino Night helps PHSFEE reach $100,000 goal
Driven by a Casino Night fundraiser that was the result of the hard work and generosity of scores of people, the Palmyra High School Foundation for Educational Excellence raised $25,000 for PHS–surpassing the group’s overall $100,000 fundraising target.
I was part of the group that founded PHSFEE in 2016, and we stated two primary goals in our bylaws:
- Fundraising for PHS.
- Community relations about the many good things about PHS and its talented students.
In terms of raising money, for one of the smallest public high schools in New Jersey, we’ve done well. We’ve conducted events including a Color Run and a pandemic-forced virtual 50/50, but our marquee event has been our fall Casino Night, which has taken place four times: 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022 (the pandemic led to our two-year pause).
Through these efforts, our donation total has crept up. At the start of 2021, we realized our total was $78,000. $100,000 seemed like an ideal target, and at a meeting one of our newer trustees, Vanessa Livingstone, did some quick math and pointed out that $22,000 would get us there. A slogan was born!: “$22k for ’22.”
Because of this year’s very successful Casino Night, which took place a few weeks ago, we surpassed that figure by nearly 15%, money that will go to initiatives identified by the high school, including diversity, equity, and inclusivity programming and the arts. We passed the motion for the $25,000 donation at our Trustee meeting last week.
Casino Night itself? It has lots of moving parts, but the result is a fun, energetic event that unites the PHS community, with parents, teachers, and administrators all coming out for a casino-themed (thanks to Tumbling Dice), Sweet Lucy’s barbecue-filled good time..
Also, I appreciate the support of those not directly connected with PHS (including several of my friends). It doesn’t matter if your kid attends PHS or even if you have kids, supporting the public school directly bolsters our community, and people recognized that. PHS, as public schools are, is always there for all the kids in the community.
The number of volunteers–and they are all volunteers–who helped do this? We had our 10 hard-working PHSFEE Trustees and about double that amount who closely coordinated Casino Night. But a small army of others pitched in, the many people and businesses who made direct donations (a list of our sponsors is on our Facebook page), bought or sold 50-50 and event tickets, provided items for our silent auction baskets (and there was some really cool stuff, assembled and themed by our incredibly creative team), or helped with facilities and supplies. In addition, a pleasant gaggle of PHS Interact students showed up to help set up Saturday afternoon.
At the end of the night, we knew we had done well, and as the gym cleared out, I looked around and saw yet more volunteers staying to help us break down and set up the gym so our host, Sacred Heart Church, could conduct a Sunday morning event; this was the communal spirit that has charged PHSFEE, a spirit of collective action for the good of all.
