Wessington Springs High School senior, Addyson Orth, turned a Friday night basketball doubleheader into a powerful act of community support as part of her senior project, raising more than $7,000 for the Blue Bag Program.
Orth’s project took place Friday, Dec. 12, during a doubleheader basketball game against Wolsey-Wessington. The evening featured a free-will supper, silent auction, live auction, raffle, and bake sale, all working together to benefit the Blue Bag Program, which provides ready-to-eat meals for children outside of school hours.
“I raised money for the Blue Bag Program because South Dakota, and especially Jerauld County, is considered a food desert,” Orth said. “For some kids, there isn’t easy access to food outside of school hours.”
The Wessington Springs FCCLA hosted a soup-andsandwich supper, with proceeds going directly toward Orth’s project. Numerous donations came from many different businesses and community members from Wessington Springs, Alpena, and Woonsocket. The Bucks sign, which was auctioned during halftime of the boys’ varsity game with Max Klein serving as the auctioneer, was created and donated by Crazy 8’s Creations and the quilt was anonymously donated for the raffle.
Orth estimates the event raised over $7,000, with donations still continuing to come in from community members who were unable to attend the rescheduled game.
“We had a really good turnout,” Orth said. “Even after the game was moved, I was still very happy that people still wanted to support my project.”
The original game date had to be postponed due to the weather, but Orth said even with the reschedule everything worked out in her favor.
“I was happy the game was moved to the next day rather than later in the season,” she said. “Otherwise, quite a bit of the food items from the bake sale would have gone bad.”
Orth credited much of the project’s success to the support she received from others.
“I would like to thank all the businesses and community members who helped with the project, donated items, and came out to support it,” she said.
She also received help from family members, classmates, FCCLA, the Blue Bag Committee, and her mentor, Niki Hainy.
“I’ve known Niki for a long time,” Orth said. “She has a lot of experience with the program and is part of the Blue Bag Committee.”
Orth plans to present the donation check to the Blue Bag Committee during a future home basketball game.
The success of Orth’s project highlighted the impact a single student can have when schools, organizations, and communities unite around a shared cause.