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Before heading out for spring break Friday, Lakeview Middle School students celebrated their fundraising efforts for Mississippi hurricane victims.
The school raised $1,000, which LMS science teacher Dan Wray and a group he is traveling to Mississippi with will use to help victims down south. The students raised the money by pitching in their extra change during the past few weeks.
If the school raised $500, five faculty members said they'd wear skirts to Friday's pep session. If the school raised $750, Wray told the school he'd have his hair completely shaved off. By Friday morning, the school raised $868. By Friday afternoon, the school collected $1,000. Chad Gabrich, Dennis Hershberger, Chad Hoffert, Wray and Hal Gunter all wore the skirts as promised.
Before the start of a basketball game between faculty women and female students, the faculty members in skirts had a "best legs" contest. Gabrich won and received a bouquet of flowers. The faculty women then won their 5-minute basketball game 7-4 on a last-second three-point basket.
After the women's game, Wray then had local barber John Conley shave his hair completely off, though students chanted for him to keep a mohawk.
"It's been really touching to see the students give money for this cause," Tom Kline, LMS principal, told the students at the school convocation. "It's been really touching."
Concluding the convocation, the faculty men played against male students in a basketball game of more than 10 minutes, winning 23 to 14.
The fundraising campaign came as a result of two previous trips Wray made to help with hurricane relief efforts.
The first time, he said he met a family whose house was ruined by the flood waters. On the second trip, he revisited that family and found they hadn't been able to make much progress. With this third trip during spring break, Wray said the group will help that family and at least five others rebuild as much as they can. The money raised by LMS, as well as money raised by Warsaw Community High School, will help with that work.
Forty people from this area are traveling to Mississippi for spring break to help with relief efforts, including members of Wray's church, Winona Lake Grace Brethern Church, and five other churches. Grace Brethren is coordinating the trip. A Michigan family and a Texan also will assist in the rebuilding efforts.
Hurricane Katrina, a Category 4 hurricane, stormed ashore the U.S. Gulf Coast 10 in September with extraordinarily strong winds and heavy rains. Extensive wind damage and flooding occurred along the projected track of the storm from the Gulf Coast to the Ohio River Valley. Katrina first crossed southern Florida, resulting in nine deaths and extensive flooding. Then, in coastal areas of Louisiana, large sections of New Orleans and other urban areas were flooded. Property damage has been extensive. Katrina was followed by Hurricane Rita.
