Car wash raises almost $34,000 for MCCSC fund

With country music in the background, dedicated volunteers and soap suds all around, Bloomington High School South turned into the world’s busiest school car wash.

The goal behind this fundraiser was anything but ordinary.

All extracurricular organizations at BHSS — from athletics  to student council — came together for a common goal: to help finish raising the $750,000 for the “All for All” campaign put on by the Foundation of Monroe County Community Schools. The car wash raised a total of $33,778.

With the help of the car wash and large donations, at press time, the “All for All” campaign was close to its Aug. 1 deadline goal with about 87 percent of its goal raised — $651,749 total.

Throughout July, the Foundation of Monroe County Community Schools has been organizing a slew of events, including a golf tournament and a 5K run. The money raised for the campaign will be split among all 23 Monroe County schools and will go toward the teachers’ extracurricular stipends.

If the FMCCS had not raised any money, teachers would be volunteering their time and services without any compensation.

“It’s drop-dead time,” FMCCS executive director Tina Peterson said. “It’s the last chance to give donations, and people have been giving a donation a minute. ... It’s the nature of people to wait until the last moment. It’s been phenomenal to see everything culminating during these last couple of days.”

And while bettering the community was the main goal of the car wash, BHSS wanted to beat the Guinness World Record of having the most cars washed by a school in one day.

That goal was unofficially accomplished: a world-record total of 1,207 cars were cleaned during the 10-hour car wash.

The drivers who came to the car wash were not giving away change. Many of the drivers handed over checks in the hundreds to the fund.

The car wash was a student- and parent-run machine. Four organizations were on different sides of the BHSS parking lot, alternating organizations every hour between the more than 40 organizations involved.

“State funding has gone way down,” BHSS principal Mark Fletcher said, “and this community has shown that they are not willing to accept and be a part of it.”

And many supporters said that although they wish the fundraising wasn’t necessary, the collaboration has made the Monroe County community stronger.

“North, South and the elementary schools never have to work together, and this forced us to do that,” said Kelly King, chair of marketing for the campaign and an MCCSC parent. “Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring everyone together. It may not be a hurricane or oil spill, but it has affected us.”

But the struggle is not over yet. The next hurdle to overcome is persuading residents to vote “yes” for the referendum on November’s ballot.

“This is just a Band-Aid before the referendum,” said Jeff Thomas, assistant girls’ soccer coach for BHSS.

But before the referendum, the community was filled with concern that extracurricular activities would be no more.

Extracurricular activities are essential for students’ growth because not all lessons can be taught in the classroom, Thomas said.

“When playing soccer, the girls have to work with other people,” he said. “When in the classroom, students don’t have to work with people they don’t want to associate with.”

And every member of the BHSS girls’ soccer team was at the car wash, Thomas said.

“We are used to pitching in,” he said with a smile.

Many of the students who rallied around the cause do not participate in just one extracurricular activity.

BHSS junior Jessica Carpenter is a member of both the BHSS newspaper, The Optimist, and the cheerleading squad. She said the extracurricular activities she participates in are a big part of her identity.

“I enjoy Optimist the most,” Carpenter said. “I wouldn’t want to go to school without it.”

Kaili Frye, a BHSS sophomore who cheers and is a member of student council, said she was concerned about the budget cuts.

“I was worried,” Frye said. “Since coaches and teachers were getting their pay cut, I was worried they weren’t going to want to do it anymore.”

Students were not immune to the changes of the end of the school year. With reduction-in-force policies in place and teachers being laid off, Frye said, she was left saddened.

“A lot of teachers were cut,” Frye said. “It was hard since I had gotten closer to them.”

Chloe Strauss, a senior at BHSN, drove her car to the car wash to help support her school.

“Without extracurricular activities, it would be horrible,” Strauss said. “I do the musical, and if we didn’t have it, I would be so disappointed.”

The people working in the administrative office have not gotten much sleep.

“It has consumed everyone who works in the office,” Peterson said. “There have been hundreds of people working on this campaign. It’s been rewarding to see a community pull together on something that is so important to the kids.”

Tamar Shachaf, FMCCS technology coordinator and a sophomore at IU, attended BHSN and was involved in many extracurricular activities, including a year as class president. Shachaf did not realize she would spend 40 hours a week in the office at the start of the summer, but she said that even though it’s been a lot of work, she loves doing it.

“I’ve gone through the system,” Shachaf said. “I’m glad I get to do my part to help.”