Holy Cross Collegiate raises thousands in 59 minutes!

It was hectic but cheerful scene at Holy Cross Collegiate (HCC) today, as the students were hard at work making calls and selling cookie dough for their annual cookie dough fundraiser.  Students only have 59 minutes to make all their calls and sales, so you really have to put the pedal to the metal to make as many calls as possible!

The last time they were able to do this fundraiser was 2019 due to covid, where they raised $16 000. This year's fundraiser had a goal of selling $25 000, and early estimates show that the school sold at least $35 000 worth of cookie dough and other goods.

The final sales tally won't be known until all the sales are confirmed online, but the projections look promising. The school's profit will be 40% of the final sales number. HCC English teacher and cookie dough fundraiser Carla Bisharat said the money raised goes directly to making the student experience better.

"We're raising the money specifically for different events at the school. We have spirit days that we use for this or activity days or free hot dog lunches for the kids, just basically any program needs in the school. We can use the fund raised money to help with that," she said.

While only 59 minutes to raise that much seems like a tall task, the students' energy and motivation make it possible.

"It's really exciting because it not only helps us contribute money to the school, it gets us to be more interactive with, family and friends, I've called up some teachers, some friends from school and stuff like that. It's very interactive. I'm really glad that this is the style of fundraising that we did, I'm very glad that we're able to take part in this," said Grade 12 student Joseph Intic. 

Students earn prizes as they make more sales, giving them even further incentive to sell as much as they can!

Fellow Grade 12 student Owen Beekman also enjoys the fundraiser, and especially enjoys the community aspect of it.

"I think it's great to get the whole community and all the kids involved, and it's something that I think everybody can get behind, everybody loves cookies. So it's nice to have families pitch in and that everything comes from in the community," Beekman said. 

Intic added the community is really supportive of this event, and that he's been able to make sales with most people he's contacted.

"What I've found with the calls that I've made is that people are willing to help out if it's for a good cause," Intic said.

Beekman also enjoys the format of this fundraiser, as it isn't what you'd typically expect from a school.

"It's fun to make those cold calls and pretend to be a salesman for a little bit and stuff like that. And it's nice to feel like you're part of something bigger like you're actually supporting the school," Beekman said.

Feeling like a salesman can be fun, and Bisharat added the calls can also be a great learning experience for many students.

"A lot of kids, they're always texting or they're just sending pictures on Snapchat and they don't have very much practice calling people on the phone and actually talking to people, so we thought this would actually be a really good way to sort of enhance that as well," she explained. 

The bulk of sales was done during this 59 minute portion, but if you want to support the fundraiser you can still purchase cookie dough and other things like cinnamon buns at this link here. The sales will continue until October 5.

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