Parents, Students, and the Western Community, We once again have a great opportunity to raise money for our school. The University of Oregon has asked us come back for another season of work with their athletic department in setting up their stadium chairs. This will be our 5th year working with the University of Oregon. The work done at Autzen Stadium yields our school upwards of $25,000 each year! This is our 5th highest fundraiser of the year. In the past this has been an extracurricular fundraiser, but this year it will be going to fund the implementation of our A.P. Courses. We are excited about this opportunity and honored to be asked once again by the University of Oregon to lead this job. They have been so impressed by our work ethic and attitude in past years that they can’t wait to have us back on their campus. What an amazing testimony of our outstanding community at Western Mennonite School! I want to take a moment to explain the work for those of you that may not be familiar with this fundraiser. Every August we assemble the largest team of workers that we can and head down to Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon. Our job is to clean and set up stadium seats all over the stadium. There are many jobs to do from carrying chairs up/down the stairs, to setting them in the right spots, to zip tying them to the bleachers. This year we will be installing brand new chairs so there will be no cleaning like normal. It can be hard work, but many hands make light work and we can use all the help we can get. We have been asked to set the chairs up on Saturday, August 23rd, 2014. Transportation will be provided. The schedule for the day will be as follows: 6:30am – Buses leave from Western. 6:45am – Buses pick up at the back of Roth’s in West Salem. 9:00am – 5:00pm (or sooner if work is done) – Work at Autzen Stadium 7:00pm – Buses return to the back of Roth’s in West Salem 7:15pm – Buses return to Western. Lunch break, work rotations, and additional breaks will be scheduled throughout the day. Water will be provided. We will also provide pizza for dinner prior to leaving. Please bring a sack lunch as well as additional snacks for your breaks. We highly encourage hats and sunscreen.
This opportunity not only helps our school, but can also benefit you. This year we are offering one financial credit of $150 towards your bill with no strings attached. A parent, sibling, grandparent, or friend can represent your student if they are unable to attend, but only one credit per student represented will be awarded. We need every person we can get to help us in this endeavor. If you are questioning if you want to be involved this year let me reassure you that we can use you! Bring your friends, neighbors, family members, or anyone you know that can help us. We would like to top the 150 volunteer mark for workers this year. Please reply to this e-mail to RSVP by August 18th so we can plan for who is attending and transportation. Once I have a firm count on who is attending, I will be setting everyone up in teams so we can be most effective once we arrive at the stadium. If you have any questions regarding this opportunity or would like more details please contact Sheila Fahndrich at 503-363-2000 or sfahndrich@westernmennoniteschool.org. Thank you for supporting Western Mennonite School and I look forward to seeing you all on August 23rd. Sincerely,
Robby Gilliam Director of Advancement & Finance Western Mennonite School 503-363-2000 x 130 rgilliam@westernmennoniteschool.org