After a long, exciting week of fundraising, Five Days of Giving concluded today with a pep fest in the OHS gym. In the past week, students participated in a car crush, lunchroom activities, classroom competitions and a week closing “Mangeant.” Student Council member Emma Smith said, “The Owat-A-Man mangeant was a huge success! The ten guys competing really brought in a good audience and a lot of money, around over $1000.  Friday was a really busy day for student council, and we’re very happy with how the mangeant turned out.”

Based off of this year’s involvement, student council is really excited for how next year will turn out. Student Council advisor Julie Haugan said, “This year was a really exciting year for our annual fundraising event. We threw in some new ideas, including the car smash and the mangeant, and Student Council is really excited to continue these events in the upcoming years.” At the pep fest, OHS students discovered just how much good they really did. In a single week, the OHS raised a total of $4,734.62 for Transitional Housing. And that does not include the $710 that St. Mary’s school raised! Julie Anderson from Steele County Transitional Housing said, “I was simply blown away by the generosity of the students at the pep fest today. The over $5,400 raised for Transitional Housing will help to keep 10 families in housing. This can help us to keep families who are already in housing from becoming evicted.” Transitional Housing, a nonprofit organization, provides case management and rental assistance for the homeless and rent-burdened peoples in Steele County. From information provided from Steele County Transitional Housing, “In 2012, Steele County Transitional Housing served 32 households and provided Eviction Prevention for 21 households.” So while the fundraising week may have been full of fun and laughs, students can feel very proud of the good that they have done. “A thank you will never be enough to describe the gratitude that is in our hearts,” Anderson said, “Bless you all and bless the work that you do!”