Troy Athens Holds Annual Charity Week

Troy Athens High School is excited to be holding one of Michigan’s largest high school student-led charity campaigns: Charity Week! The student body will be raising money and awareness during the week of February 12-16, 2024, to support Love for a Child, a local organization founded in 2012 that serves children, youth, and families within Michigan’s foster care system. The group focuses on helping children who have experienced trauma in the forms of abuse, abandonment, and neglect. Love for a Child facilitates overnight camps, mentorship opportunities for children and youth, and continues to provide resources for foster families as well. By choosing Love for a Child, Athens Student Council hopes to raise awareness about this serious issue.

StuCo President Brooke Lee is a Senior, so she has been a part of Charity Week for all four years: “We chose Love for a Child because they really touched our hearts with their presentation, and their mission and dedication to children in foster care really hit close to home. We go to school with kids who have been in or are still in the foster care system, so we can relate to their mission simply by looking at our classmates,” said Lee. “I’m so excited to see what we can share with them during Charity Week this year, as it's my last year and my last chance to leave a lasting impact on my community.”

Senior and StuCo VP Samantha Steiner is excited to be partnering with The Giving Foundation. “We have the unique opportunity to make a huge life-changing difference in the lives of Michigan foster kids, and we are so excited that The Giving Foundation has committed to matching every dollar we raise by 100% in order to make an even bigger impact!.” https://www.givingfoundationcharity.org/

Various activities for students are planned to raise money and awareness during Charity Week. For example, students will kick off the week with a “Comfy” spirit day and pancake breakfast prepared by parents. Another popular event during the week, Jail ‘n’ Bail, allows students to place warrants on themselves or their friends; as a result, they are “arrested” during class and placed inside a “jail” which has games for students to enjoy while they raise money to facilitate their “bail.” And “Coin Stall” happens is at the beginning of every hour during a given day. Students bring in mountains of change, and class cannot begin until it is all counted, then donated.

Other events include a carnival night, a “belly flop” contest, a volleyball tournament, hypnosis show, film festival, and a parent cook-off followed by the Mr. Athens Pageant. The general public are invited to all evening activities and be part of reaching the school’s goal. (Last year, Charity Week raised an amazing $115,000!) Donations can be made by check made out to Athens High School and can be mailed to Athens HS, c/o S. DuFresne, 4333 John R Road, Troy, MI 48085. There is also an online community donation link:

Community Donations - https://schoolpay.com/pay/for/Athens-Charity-Week-2024-onations/SbS79TW

And stay tuned for Friday’s inspirational pep assembly which concludes with the exciting reveal of the dollar amount raised! “Athens Charity Week is one of the best ways to get involved. It helps create a sense of unity, belonging, and school spirit, providing a positive impact on our community,” concluded Junior Madison Bloom, StuCo VP. “The public can participate by donating funds or goods and spreading the word about the cause on social media. Every small act of support has significant value and will make a difference for the children and families in the foster system that we will reach at Love for a Child.”

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--Follow Troy Athens Student Council on X/Twitter and Instagram: @AthensStuco, athensstuco

--Follow Troy Athens High School on X/Twitter: @troy_athens

--Follow Love for a Child: Instagram: @loveforachild

--Facebook: Love for a Child

--Email address: Joe Savalle, Founder joe@loveforachild.org

Phone (586) 873-0378

Website: www.loveforachild.org

Photos of last year’s Charity Week courtesy of Troy School District