Students kicked off the 73rd annual student-planned Christmas Fund Drive Nov. 23 with separate chapel programs; it was the first time the two met separately for the launch.

The middle school planners hosted a skit and Jeopardy game in the gym, while high school students played an EMS fund drive version of Family Feud in the auditorium.

“The launch gatherings can be a bit, well, chaotic,” admits staff drive coordinator, Trisha Blosser. “But there is a lot of ownership. Having them develop questions for games and scripts for skits means they get into the details of the drive and really learn how it works, and why it happens,” said Blosser, development officer.

The new separate launches will, hopes Blosser and colleagues, result in even more ownership from younger students.

The drive provides well over $150,000 annually for the school, with student efforts coming in with around $100,000 of the total. These gifts are added to the 2nd Century Fund, which is the basis for the school’s annual operating budget, covering faculty and staff support, athletics, buildings, supplies and financial assistance.

Why keep giving?
Alumni and past donors are the first to get postcards inviting participation, written by students. Most alumni remember participating as a student and are almost always supportive. “Gifts of any size make a difference,” Blosser noted to student planners. “We only want people to give if it brings them joy, and hundreds of people find joy in joining this drive every year.”

Ann Martin, class of ’79, is one alumnus who receives the fund drive appeal with a smile each year. While her direct connections to the school are gone, Ann continues to support EMS. Here’s why…

“In the past, my gifts usually went to nieces and nephews to help them meet their Christmas Fund Drive goals… I remembered my own goals as a student! Now, they have graduated, and we no longer have tuition to pay for our own children.

Several things prompted me to give a recent gift to EMS:

• In early May, I spent a weekend in Atlanta with five friends from my EMHS class. I was struck again by how amazing I find these women and the lives they lead. It has been a great joy to maintain these friendships through the years, and I think EMHS greatly helped shape these impressive women.
• A recent EMS planned giving video sent to my email was so well done and inspiring.
• I was so happy to receive an email sharing that EMHS now has a Students of Color Endowed Scholarship Fund. I loved reading the details about the background of this scholarship.”

Read more about the drive here. Gifts to the 2021 student-planned Christmas Fund Drive are welcome here.