Getting it done: The Phonathon makes it happen!

FHHS seniors Clara (left) and Nana worked the phones for last night's Phonathon, which raised over $30K from our generous community. Photos for the Update by Madi McPadden.

It was cool last night to see how well it worked: Couple of dozen volunteers, including school administrative staff & students and mamas and papas, plus a committed & energetic board, and a bunch of phones.

In a little over three hours they called most of the island to ask for a little help, and many islanders responded. The evening was sponsored by the San Juan Public Schools Foundation…at the end, I asked board member Lisa Anderson how we did, and she said at the final bell, over $30,000 was pledged, with more likely to roll in, over the next few days. (By the way, the four service clubs on the island – Rotary, the Soroptimists, Kiwanis, and the Lions – each donated $500 to the cause.)

I did a little turn on the phones as well, and first of all, I’d like to thank everyone who didn’t treat me like a telemarketer…mostly folks said, “Oh, yeah, I knew you were going to call!” and either pledged an amount (most were about $25 or so, some were in the hundreds), or said maybe next year – which is good, too – there are a fair number of islanders who are pretty strapped right now.

The generally positive response was much appreciated as we all do our part to make up the shortcomings of budgets the best we can. If you weren’t contacted last night, but still want to help, check out the budget priorities for this year, and use the Donate button on the left of the site to give.

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