Students at Westbrook Regional Vocational Center hosted a benefit dinner in the school’s dining hall on Sept. 29 to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The Westbrook chapter of DECA, the Distributive Education Clubs of America, set out to raise money to assist other student chapters of the national club in the Gulf Coast that had been had affected in the wake of the storm.
Student members of DECA had been planning to host a benefit dinner for the Animal Refuge League, but received word through a national newsletter that other DECA chapters in the Gulf Coast were in need of serious assistance.
“DECA was encouraging chapters to host fundraisers for the Gulf Coast chapters on the 29th,” said Bob Radley, a marketing teacher and an advisor for the club. The response to this request was then coordinated by both culinary arts and marketing students.
Members set out to host the benefit dinner with little advance notice, having only found out about the request Monday of that same week.
“I came back from an Orthodontist appointment on Monday and found out that we were going to do this,” said Lindsey Williams, a 17-year-old culinary arts student. Students then set out to gather as many donations as they could to make the dinner a reality.
Local businesses, families and students donated food, paper plates, napkins and cups to assist in the effort. “It was a box of spaghetti here, another donation there. Everything was donated,” said Williams.
Some students even reached into their own bank accounts to ensure that the benefit would happen on schedule. Sam Murphy, 17, spent $30 of her own money to purchase apples to be used in dishes at the dinner.
“I’d be really thankful for it,” Murphy said. “We’re helping a lot of people who lost a lot. It’s a good cause.”
Westbrook DECA students felt compelled to raise money so that other Gulf Coast chapters could have the opportunity to attend national competitions later in the year. In total, 39 chapters in Louisiana and Mississippi were affected by the hurricane.
Justin Woodbury, 17, and student president of DECA, believed in a need to honor both the commitment to the Animal Refuge League as well as the call for assistance to the Gulf Coast.
“We had an idea that the money should go to both the people and the animals,” Woodbury said. “We thought it was fair.” The students agreed upon a decision to split the proceeds, with 80 percent going to DECA chapters and 20 percent going to the Animal Refuge League in the same area.
In total, the dinner was projected to have raised around $500 to benefit both organizations.
Radley commented that the students’ sense of duty to others served as an important lesson both personally and professionally. “This experience serves as an umbrella to teach leadership and civic concern skills as well as business skills,” Radley said. “This is what business people do and it’s important to show civic responsibility to young business people,” he added.
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