HOPE — Two friends since childhood have founded a new organization to help students in the Flat Rock-Hawcreek School Corp.
The first event organized by the Students’ Fund of Hope will provide root beer floats to the public from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the Hope Town Square.
While there is no fixed price for a float, organizers Stephanie Long and Whitney Budd said they are asking for free-will donations.
Money raised primarily will be used to help children in financially disadvantaged families purchase school lunches, Long said.
About 40 percent of Flat Rock-Hawcreek students qualify for free or reduced lunches, which is below the state’s 48 percent average, according to the corporation’s 2017 annual performance report.
Since reduced-price lunches in the Hope area schools are priced at 40 cents, an $8 donation can feed one child for an entire month, Long said.
But Budd says her new organization also wants to address other needs such as clothing and fees for extra curricular activities.
Decisions regarding an exact method of distributing funds will be determined later this year, Long said.
Both women expressed amazement at how many individuals and businesses have enthusiastically offered their time or financial support for this weekend’s initial event. Cups, straws and soft drinks have been donated, Long said.
However, Budd said she is most moved by the fact that two retired Flat Rock-Hawcreek teachers, Tammy Files and Beth Newman, were the first to make financial contributions.
“It’s very telling that teachers who used their own money to assist students throughout their careers are still helping kids in retirement,” Budd said.
For Budd and her husband, Ryan Budd, the desire to help disadvantaged children comes from a personal standpoint after both were raised in single-parent households.
Not only did Whitney Budd’s mother have financial struggles, but she also suffered significant health problems with no medical insurance that left the entire family financially devastated, Budd said.
“That left my brothers and I with nowhere to go,” Budd said. “It just makes my stomach hurt to think there are other families going through the same thing right now.”
As Budd and her husband recently began to prepare to send their oldest child, Brock, to kindergarten, Whitney Budd came up with the idea of the root beer float stand and creating the new fund, Long said.
She was able to quickly recruit Long and her husband, Nate Long, to assist in the effort, she said.
While Budd believes most northeast Bartholomew County residents want to help children, she said most didn’t know of any outlet that would allow them to assist, she said.
Children who come with their parents to get a root beer float Sunday will be given an opportunity to color a picture, Budd said.
Officials at Hope Elementary have agreed to display those pictures in the cafeteria when the new school year gets underway next month, Budd said.
After this weekend, the Students’ Fund of Hope hopes to kick off a series of family movie screenings on the Hope Town Square, Long said.
The film series will provide an opportunity to not only create more awareness and get more donations, but also bring the community together to show they care about all children, Long said.
The first event is scheduled for 8 p.m. Sept. 14, she said.
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Donations to the newly-formed Students’ Fund of Hope may be made through the town’s branch of First Financial Bank.
In addition, the organization is expected to launch a new Facebook page this weekend that will allow readers to make a donation.
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