The following is a brief of the full story. For the full version, see Monday's print edition of the Boonville Daily News.
More than $1,700 was raised for the Save the Children organization on Sunday. More than 200 people were served at Sunday’s fundraiser breakfast.
The event was planned by Pilot Grove High School freshmen Levi Gerke and Erin Twenter. They have a goal of raising $2,500 for their Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Star Event’s project. Their goal is to raise the money for a well that would provide clean water to an Africa village through the Save the Children organization.
“My mom and my sister went to Africa and they saw that people really needed water. The wells were so far for people to walk to and we wanted to help out,” Twenter said in a December interview.
To reach their goal, the two freshmen have been selling hot chocolate and raffle tickets at home basketball games and other local events.
Items that are being raffled off include a portable DVD player with a case, a digital camera and an mp3 player. Recently more items were donated to help with the raffle: Jim Edwards donated a set of fireworks, while Missy Walther donated a gift certificate to Settler’s Inn. And to help out with the breakfast, sausage for the gravy was donated by C&R Market in Boonville.
“The kids were overwhelmed by how much help they received and had no idea that we would come this close to meeting our goal with just one event,” said Shannon Twenter, Erin’s mother.
