Ready or not, here they come!
For the past few weeks San Benito High school’s Associated
Student Body has been running around to get ready for this year’s
Benefit Ball. The Benefit Ball is a dance put on by the ASB to
raise money for someone in need in the community. All proceeds go
to the selected beneficiary or beneficiaries.
Last year the ASB raised more than $20,000 for Diana Magana who
is battling cancer with their
”
Dancing for Diana
”
campaign. It was a personal record for the high school.
Ready or not, here they come!
For the past few weeks San Benito High school’s Associated Student Body has been running around to get ready for this year’s Benefit Ball. The Benefit Ball is a dance put on by the ASB to raise money for someone in need in the community. All proceeds go to the selected beneficiary or beneficiaries.
Last year the ASB raised more than $20,000 for Diana Magana who is battling cancer with their “Dancing for Diana” campaign. It was a personal record for the high school.
This year the ASB is “leaping for life” to support new beneficiaries “to show how much we truly care,” said Hina Moheyuddin, the ASB president.
ASB member Molly McCullough said that to pick the beneficiaries the ASB comes together for a “difficult process” of voting and singling out the family that is in the greatest need of help and comfort. A teacher or adult must submit the nominees, although, a student may suggest someone to an adult for consideration. This year SBHS students chose to support not just one, but two beneficiaries – Robert Hoff and Maria Teresa Naranjo.
“We felt both families needed our help in different ways,” McCullough said. “We wish that we could help everyone.”
Hoff is the father of Brittney Hoff, who is a senior at the high school. He was in a motorcycle accident last year and has just come out of a two-and-a-half-month coma. He is now suffering from major brain damage and was the only source of income for his family. Hoff was really involved with his kids before the accident, according to those who nominated him.
The other beneficiary is Maria Teresa Naranjo, a 5-year-old who was diagnosed with leukemia last year. She is now at the most difficult part of her treatment. Naranjo’s sisters, Cynthia and Ana both attended SBHS. Cynthia is a junior and Ana is now a freshman at Cabrillo College. Naranjo has been spending a lot of her childhood time at Stanford Children’s Hospital.
McCullough is also the head of the comfort quilts operation. The ASB students plan to make a quilt to help raise money and support Naranjo while she is in the hospital. A person, company, or family can purchase a piece of the quilt and write words of encouragement. The quilt pieces will then be given to McCullough’s mom, Meg McCullough to be sewn into one big quilt for Naranjo.
It will be “a whole blanket filled with love for her,” Moheyuddin said.
The support does not stop at just the Benefit Ball. The ASB has come up with other ideas to raise money for the beneficiaries. As well as the comfort quilt, the ASB is selling princess crowns, pledge sheets and is planning a teachers vs. students softball game to be played at the end of the softball season.
The pledge sheets and princess crowns can be picked up in Room 352 at the high school. With the pledge sheets, if students raise at least $10, they can attend the Benefit Ball for free. Sheets for the crowns cost $20 and can be picked up in Room 352 as well.
Families and companies can show their support at the dance and have a special message printed on the crowns for the beneficiaries.
Prices to attend the dance, which is open to San Benito High School students, are: $6 with ASB card, $8 with student ID, and $10. Baked goods and water will be sold as well. The dance will be held Jan. 28 in the O’Donnell Gym from 8 p.m. to midnight.
San Benito High School Benefit Ball
For more information on the fundraisers, go to http://sbhsbenefitball.org, or the San Benito High School website at http://www.sbhsd.k12.ca.us/. Donations may be made through the school or ASB. Please visit the student payment center located in the main office or call 637-5831 extension 351.
