Goal of raising $5,000 to fund annual Kennett High festivities achieved
By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times
It was a full-throttle community rescue, befitting a free event that benefits so many people, organizers said, announcing that Kennett High’s After-Prom has been saved.
When this winter’s punishing weather hampered fund-raising efforts, Kim Beeson and Diane Bonifacino, the parents heading this year’s cadre of volunteers, issued an alert and imposed a March 1 deadline to raise $5,000. Vendors had to be paid and the money wasn’t there, they explained.
A web site was set up for making donations, and calls started coming in, they said. State Rep. Steven Barrar chipped in $250, expressing an interest in getting to know more about the community, school, and needs. Online donors ranged from two at $500, one at $250, two at $200 to dozens of more modest contributions, they said.
“We are very grateful for all the donations we got to make this a success,” said Bonifacino.
Now that volunteers have survived the tense stretch of uncertainty, they have a new deadline: The prom is April 25. Work on preparing an entertaining After-Prom will resume. Bonifacino said some of the more expensive accoutrements were replaced with more cost-effective ones, changes that probably won’t even be noticed. The Garage is supporting the effort and will loan the volunteers some activities, she added.
So as preparations continue on the After-Prom, students can focus on more pressing concerns, such as who’s going with whom and what are they wearing.
