By Sue Moore
The first ever Walkin’ the Dawgs fundraiser, held October 12 at the Vicksburg High School stadium, raised $17,000. “We are extremely excited to scale back to only one middle-school fundraiser for the entire year and to have 100 percent of the funds received going directly to Vicksburg Middle School and to the benefit of the students,” said Principal Matt VanDussen.
In the past, students and parents have held various fundraisers and sold items such as magazines, cookie dough, Yankee Candles, coupon books, candy and other food items. The profits from past fundraisers have helped serve the students of Vicksburg Middle School by providing funds for programs such as band, choir, sixth grade camp, Civil War Day and the Student Council in addition to providing money for student incentives and building improvements. Instead of each group holding its own fundraiser, Walkin’ the Dawgs now has become the official once-a-year fundraiser to support these programs.
By collecting donations, each child was committing to walk or run around the track for 60 minutes, weather permitting. VanDussen was encouraging students to set their own goal on the number of laps they would like to complete during the fundraiser.
“While we were being optimistic with the $32,000 goal, we understood realistically we would probably come up short the first year,” said Lucas Hillard, the middle school’s chief fundraiser. “The ultimate goal was to unite all the fundraising under one event and grow it from there.”
Unfortunately, because the goal was not met, some planned building improvements will be deferred to the following school year. The administration and staff feel it is very important to uphold the promise of only one fundraiser per year. This will reinforce the importance of the Walkin’ the Dawgs event and will lead to more success in the future, Hillard said.