During the onset of year 2, 15 more minds meant twice as many brilliant fund raising ideas. Beginning as a relatively unknown and disorganized student-led non-profit, BGMI has blossomed into an organization that has received surprising public attention and respect.
On December 9th BGMI partnered with its first local business -- Laney's Restaurant. Due to exceptional advertising both around town and within the Burr and Burton community, approximately $1,200 was raised in one night. Over 160 individuals showed up to eat and support both the local business and our student organization. The boys' varsity basketball team and girls' varsity dance team (state champions this year..congratulations!) came in at once, and a number of faculty members, parents, and other students attended as well! We would like to formally thank Laney's Restaurant for partnering with us, we're unbelievably appreciative, and can only hope to make this collaboration an annual event.
Junior Karolinka Sowulewska took it upon herself to propose BGMI create T-shirts for both advertising and to sell. She created an amazing design, which was graphically touched up by sophomore Jimmy Woodard. The design on the front will look like so:
If you would like to purchase a shirt, please contact Karolinka at ksowulewska@burrburton.org!
Had BGMI failed to draw public attention, David Sengeh -- founder of Global Minimum -- would not have been selected by BBA's headmaster Mark Tashjian to be Burr and Burton's commencement speaker for the graduating senior class of 2011. Articles of this honor have been published in Burr and Burton's student newspaper The Bell Tower, and will soon be distributed to the local papers. The following picture is of David, making a speech while wearing one of BGMI's silicone bracelets:
During our successful "BGMI Week" at Burr and Burton, BGMI showed its YouTube video to the student body, which was very successful and essentially put BGMI in the school spotlight for the first time. We announced Laney's Night, and then raised money through a pie-in-the-face contest, which would allow students and teachers to pie each other during a subsequent morning all-school assembly. This raised a fair amount of cash; later that week we had our BGMI Dance which brought in approximately $300. With a little more advertising the event could have been a huge hit. We hope to have over 350 students from Manchester Elementary Middle School, Maple Street School, and the Dorset School when we begin advertising for our second annual middle school dance. Last year the dance was held at Maple Street School: This year we hope to have it at Manchester Elementary Middle School on either April 1st or 8th.
Additionally, we would also like to thank BBA's student council. BGMI applied for and received both times a generous student council grant of $500. This means that approximately 25% ($1,000) of BGMI's cumulative group fund raising has been contributed through BBA's student council. We're appreciative that BBA has been so receptive towards our efforts in buying mosquito nets for Global Minimum. Thank you student council!
MEMS has graciously decided to raise money (they raised over $650 last year for us) for BGMI again because they believe in our cause and trust us as responsible student leaders. It will be interesting to see how much money we'll be able to acquire in the coming three months. We have already surpassed last year's total; we can only hope that next year BGMI -- and what it represents -- continues to grow and remain in the public eye.
