Brookwood High School
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- March to One Million
Brookwood's Overarching Charitable Campaign and Internal Non-Profit
Committing to another million!
March to 2 Million
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Brookwood surpasses $1 million
SNELLVILLE, Ga. ─ Some pictures are worth a thousand words, but this one is worth a million.
Since Fall 2014, Brookwood High School has been keeping close track of its overall charitable fundraising with an eye toward raising $1 million by May 2025. Brookwood’s previous principal, William Bo Ford Jr, launched the March to One Million (M1M) campaign in September 2014 along with the school’s student government association (SGA), and for six consecutive years, the school cleared $100,000. Despite the yearlong interruption from the pandemic, Brookwood has met its $1 million goal within eight and a half years’ time. Current principal Brett Savage, who took the helm in August 2022, has already initiated the school’s second M1M campaign to carry the school through the 2020s.
Brookwood’s most notable fundraisers have been for the Amanda Riley Foundation, American Cancer Society's Relay For Life, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Brookwood's Helping Hands and Hearts (HHH), Children's Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA), The Exceptional Foundation, United Way, and local food cooperatives. Community attendance at annual events has been key, especially for the SGA’s Halloween Haunted F-Hall, Miracle Marathon, spring carnival, and movie nights, all of which also required strong student participation. The art department’s Empty Bowls soup dinner for the hungry has brought together visual arts and orchestra students, school cafeteria workers, and local vendors. Brookwood’s HHH Week, which has been in existence for well over 20 years, has seen success partly because of the school’s competitive nature. Teachers have encouraged their students to donate, bid, and buy food and fun privileges all in the name of charity and to win the honor of raising the most money in the school. With the money, HHH identifies Brookwood students and families in need and helps them during extenuating circumstances, holidays, and everyday life. Since 2014, HHH has given students and families more than $100,000 in assistance.
All faculty and staff have contributed through silent auctions, special Jeans Day passes, and personal donations directly from their paychecks. A silent auction and chili cookoff held this winter raised more than $4,200 for CHOA, part of the more than $100,000 total that the school has donated to the hospital over the past four years.
“Without involvement and a concerted effort at every level, reaching a million by this time wouldn’t have been possible,” said AP Biology teacher and SGA co-sponsor John Chvatal. “Everybody and everything contributed—from students to faculty, and from canned food drives to blockbuster events.” Coach Chvatal has spearheaded the M1M campaign from the beginning. To commemorate the milestone, he and fellow SGA teacher sponsors, Danielle Kaiser and Emily Humphrey, and the school’s five SGA student executive officers hung oversized balloons on the trophy case in the center of the school, spelling $1,000,000 for all to see.
$1MM in less than 10 years
Helping Hands & Hearts (HHH)
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HHH stands for Helping Hands and Heart, a fundraising organization established at Brookwood High School to help students and families in the Brookwood High School community. HHH is a temporary remedy for families who have fallen on hard times; it provides a hand up out of some of the most difficult and unimaginable circumstances. No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.
Not surprisingly, HHH has provided much-needed winter coats to students who have none, but it has also assisted a family who suffered a daunting housefire, another with unmanageable funeral expenses, and yet others who were homelessness. HHH raises money and also collects and donates clothing, food and other items.
Each fall during HHH Week, staff and students raise thousands of dollars for the organization through creative methods. Brookwood staff also donates money directly throughout the year and comes together during the winter holidays to shop for gifts and groceries for designated Brookwood families.
HHH's mission is to help students cope at school with their financial struggles and make school life as close to “normal” as possible. HHH seeks to provide the resources that would permit the success of each student in an environment that fosters respect for self and others.
How to Donate Online
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To donate online to HHH, use your MyPaymentsPlus account and look under the School Fundraiser section.