IN West County Winter 2017 | Page 15

W hat started as a fundraiser for a local cancer center led by a Fairview High School student four years ago has evolved into a full-blown, community-supported philanthropic non- profit. Fairview Cares has donated an impressive $80,000 back to the community since it was launched in 2013. Fairview Cares was originally a school project by Hayden Elliott, a high school junior at the time. Elliott set out to raise money for the Regional Cancer Center and through the program raised more than $10,000 the first year. Then, two years ago, Matt Greene, a teacher at Fairview, took over and became the high school coordinator, working with the students to run Fairview Cares. The initiative has become a life learning experience for Fairview High School students. Greene teaches web design, marketing and Introduction to Business classes. Students in his classes are responsible for running Fairview Cares to gain hands-on business experience and a chance to build their portfolio. Each year the students in the Web Design class design a new website for Fairview Cares. The best one serves as the official website, which generally goes live in December. The same happens with the t-shirts. There is a districtwide contest for the year’s design among the students. Last year, Devon Eisenhut, who is now a senior at Fairview and wants to be a graphic designer, created the winning design. Local printer Creative Imprint creates the shirts for the organization to sell. Business class students handle the sponsorship sales for Fairview Cares. They are responsible for cold calling local businesses and asking for donations. “For a week the students’ job is to find sponsors. They have to log calls and take notes about who they spoke to and write a summary of the call, so there is accountability,” says Greene. Greene explains that hearing a lot of “No, thank yous” is a good life lesson that students learn quickly and it makes them more confident and comfortable. The business community has been very generous and makes up a large portion of the funds raised each year. Sponsors are listed on the back of the t-shirts that are sold as a fundraiser. Small events are held throughout the year for Fairview Cares such as Chipotle Nights, Avonia Tavern Nights, Parents’ Night Out and 100 Bags. The middle and elementary schools get involved through a Change Challenge—students are encouraged to bring in loose change and compete for a fun prize. The biggest event for Fairview Cares is a 5K held in May at the Fairview High School football field track. The entire community is invited to participate, along with students and cancer survivors. The primary beneficiary of the money raised by the students remains the Regional Cancer Center, but Fairview Cares has added two secondary charities that receive donations as well—The Neighborhood Art House and the Crime Victim Center of Erie County. Businesses or individuals interested in supporting Fairview Cares can visit fairviewcares.org. ■ Greene explains that hearing a Green that hearing of “no lot of explains ‘No, thank yous’ is a a lot good thank yous” is a good life lesson that life lesson that students learn them students learn quickly and it makes quickly and it makes them more more confident and comfortable. confident and comfortable. West County | Winter 2017 | icmags.com 13