Sophomore class sweeps second Charity Challenge

The Student Government Association (SGA) announced the sophomore class as the second annual Charity Challenge winner this week. The fundraiser, sponsored by the SGA, was designed for each grade to raise money for a charity selected by each of the four class presidents. All four combined grades raised $237.18, according to the SGA.

The sophomore class raised the most money, donating $64.66 to the Children's Inn at the National Institutes of Health, which houses sick children and their families during treatment. The senior class came in second, donating $62.63 to the International Justice Mission; the freshman class came in third, donating $54.97 to The Save Darfur Coalition and the junior class came in last, donating $54.89 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. To determine the winning class, dollar-value points were awarded for coins and subtracted for bills contributed in each grade's charity bucket.

This year's amount is a strikingly low figure compared to last year's total of $1522.83. "This year's results were definitely disappointing," SGA chief of staff Vijay Baharani said. "We were definitely not as successful as last year. There just really wasn't enough advertisement or commitment to the challenge this year."

The lack of enthusiasm for the challenge this year could be credited to the absence of an assembly promoting the fundraiser. Due to testing schedules and the spring pep rally scheduled for this Friday, the SGA was unable to schedule any assembly time, according to SGA president Molly Martinez."It's disappointing that we were not able to hold an assembly this year because it really helped boost publicity and student's enthusiasm last year," she said.

Despite this year's disappointing outcome, SGA members are hoping that with more promotion, commitment and focus, next year's Charity Challenge will be more successful.