WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Granite Education Foundation's warehouse in West Valley City suffered thousands of dollars in losses after a December break-in, but two schools in the district came to the rescue with fundraising dollars.
Food from the warehouse goes to help reduce food insecurity for students in the district, so the break-in was particularly devastating, a true "Grinch" story happening on Christmas Eve.
Executive Director of Granite Education Foundation Jadee Talbot says the damage was close to $100,000, but the real damage was the theft of items and resources intended for the most at-risk students in the school district.
Talbot, a former teacher and principal, explained that the need is great for their food assistance program.
"In Granite, we serve over 58,000 students, 47% of the students are on free and reduced lunch," she said.
The Assistance Program also provides food on the weekend, with 65,000 student weekend kits distributed so far, and over 70,000 estimated to be given out by the end of the school year.
But the break-in put pressure on the Foundation to provide assistance, so Wasatch and Churchill Junior High Schools stepped up in a big way.
“We raised just about a little over $47,000 was just just a little bit over two weeks, double our goal," said Jack Stewart, Student Body Officer Advisor and English teacher at Wasatch Junior High.
Stewart explained that the Student Body Officers all got involved, allowing students to dump them in cold water or throw pies in their faces.
"For reaching certain money goals, the students got to witness these moments of fun humiliation for the faculty and administration. I even got to spend some time with the Principal and Vice Principal of Wasatch as they had to sleep overnight up on the roof, in the rain, after the students had reached a certain goal," he added.
All of these activities were motivation for Wasatch Junior High to raise more money in a friendly competition.
"Wasatch did beat us. I think they're around $47,000. So they they beat us. But ultimately, those efforts led to almost $90,000 for the Foundation," said Churchill Junior High Principal Trent Hendricks.
But school spirit at Churchill was high, as Hendricks described one student's efforts.
"We had one student that just took it on all by himself, not a student leader, to go every morning at like 7 a.m. and stand with a sign to campaign himself. So it was really awesome. It's just kind of the Charger way here at Churchill where the kids see a cause and they jump into it," he said.
Churchill's student body president Bodie Lorenzon is already looking toward next year's fundraising efforts.
"They better get way higher."
