Second Chances!: Chili- and for a great cause!

Sunday morning, mom and I woke up at 5:30 AM to start cooking chili. We made four cookers of delicious chili and two cookers of rice. Of course, we also had chips, cheese, and lots of great cookies! We invited the members of First Baptist Church as well as the Stuttgart community to come eat chili after church. We offered a free meal, but asked for donations towards a new scholarship that I am creating. It is called the New Beginnings Scholarship and will be given to a first generation college student in Stuttgart High School.

We had an incredible turnout with around 125 in attendance. About 15 people assisted in the effort to make the fundraiser possible and we raised a grand total of $1,513!! I am so pleased with the outcome of the fundraiser and am so thankful for the community support! My original goal was to raise $750 and hand out one scholarship, but now that we raised double my goal... I am going to be able to hand out two scholarships!! I am so excited about meeting with the Stuttgart High School counselor and getting the applications out!

This fundraiser required an incredible amount of work, and there is no way that I could have done it alone! A huge thank you to my family for promoting the event, setting up the tables, buying and preparing the food, and cleaning up afterwards. Mom truly was the mastermind of the operation! Thank you to Mrs. LoraNelle for helping us decorate and clean-up. Thank you to Mr. Carl for helping on Sunday morning, taking photos of the event, and cleaning up afterwards. Thank you to Mrs. Tracy and Cori for baking delicious yet beautiful cookies for the event and also Mr. Lynn for the clean-up effort! Thank you to Karissa and Ashley for working so hard to put up and take down tables, Sunday morning preparation, and some laughs during the down times. Thank you to Mrs. Paula, Daniel, and Meredith for serving on Sunday. Thank you to Mrs. Mitri for lending us her cooker and Mrs. Charlotte for baking cookies. Also, thank you to everyone who donated or attended the chili lunch... couldn't have done it without all of you!!