MUKILTEO – A night of movies, food and chitchat among teenagers turned into a fundraising effort to help children halfway around the world.
In April and May, students of Kamiak High School in Mukilteo raised more than $8,000 for Invisible Children, a nonprofit organization that aids former child soldiers in Uganda.
“We were sick of so many people wanting to do something, but never following through on anything,” said senior Kaila Creamer, 17. “There are too many people out there who don’t do anything.”
Creamer said she and a group of friends were having a girls night out when their conversation turned to politics. They realized they were unhappy, and that they wanted to help change the world.
The students talked to their leadership teacher at Kamiak, who told them about the “Invisible Children” – a 2003 documentary about how children in Uganda have been affected by the country’s civil war.
They watched the film, then scheduled an assembly in late April to show it to the rest of their school’s student body. Representatives of the Invisible Children organization came to the school’s screening of the film.
By the end of the day, students had donated $1,300.
Creamer and her friends organized other fundraisers, too. They partnered with local restaurants, which donated some of their profits to the Invisible Children organization.
In another fundraiser – which they called “Don’t Stop the Bop” – the 1997 Hanson song “MmmBop” was played at school lunches repeatedly until students forked over another $2,000.
About 80 students also participated in Displace Me, a nationwide event to raise awareness on April 28, when teenagers spent a night outside.
“I think it’s neat that the kids at our school are interested in these organizations and helping out,” Kamiak senior Marissa Lyons, 18, said. “It wasn’t necessarily this organization that sold me; it was the effort that everyone put into it. That’s what I’m most proud of.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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