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KHS CLASS OF '78 MAKES CHARITY DONATIONS
As part of the 40th reunion for the Kewanee High School’s Class of 1978, they decided to create a class gift. They, in fact, ended up with four class gifts, with each one supporting a local Kewanee or Henry County charity that works to improve the lives of the local kids. The 40th reunion was organized by Steve Mitchell and Jeff Fortman, while Marla (Millman) Roth coordinated the class gift.
Using Facebook, classmates were asked to identify the charities they should support. The four charities chosen were the Kewanee Schools Foundation, Kewanee Park District, Henry County Mental Health Alliance and the Sunshine Community Services Center.
Classmates were asked to write a check to the charity or charities they wanted to support and forward it to the gift coordinator who sorted and bundled the donations. These gifts were then presented to the charities at the KHS's class of 1978's 40th class reunion on Saturday, Sept. 1, at Windmont Park.
“Our classmates were very generous. Altogether, we raised $4,238. Individual donations ranged from $20 to $300.
Many contributed to two different charities with the largest donation from one person in the amount of $500 that was split equally between two charities,” Roth said.
The funds were distributed as follows:
■ $1,498 given to the Kewanee Schools Foundation (represented by Bruce Dennison)
■ $1,245 given to the Kewanee Park District (represented by Brian Johnson)
■ $1,145 given to the Henry CountyMental Health Alliance (represented by Lisa Nordstrom)
■ $350 given to Sunshine Community Services Center (represented by EttaLaFlora)
“All four charities have special meaning to our classmates and benefit kids in our hometown. This was our chance to give back to the town that helped us become successful, and our chance to help a younger generation who may be repeating similar experiences to ours from 40 years ago. We want to improve the quality of life for youth in Kewanee and make things a little better for them,” stated Roth.
The reunion organizers and gift coordinator expressed their appreciation to each of the charities for sending a representative to the reunion to receive their gifts; and were honored to present the oversized ceremonial checks totaling the amount raised for the respective charities.
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