Deaf student raises nearly $4,000 via church project

Columbus East High School senior Nicole Lee Wheeler’s senior project encourages people spiritually, builds awareness for the area’s deaf community and supports the work of a variety of area nonprofits.

No wonder the Seymour resident got so emotional that she shed a few tears recently when she realized her ongoing fundraising effort with Seymour’s Central Christian Church signing choir recently had raised nearly $4,000 for the Seymour Lions Club. That group supports a broad range of activities, including Girls Inc. of Jackson County and the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts.

She called her appearances at various churches with the 10-member group “an amazing experience.”

Her original goal was to raise $1,000. And the group is scheduling at least one more visit — to St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Columbus soon.

The choir performs sign language to recorded Christian music. Wheeler is the only choir member who is deaf.