Students in the district are getting creative with their fundraising goals. | Canva
Students in the district are getting creative with their fundraising goals. | Canva
The Mount Carmel City Council discussed working with the local high school students on their fundraising efforts at a recent meeting.
Joe Judge, mayor of Mount Carmel, listened to student proposals. Although he is optimistic there is collaboration to be had, he also expressed some concerns.
"That's where I run into an issue," Judge said. "I just I don't know, as I'm thinking about this I’m all for fundraisers, I know there's a flamingo fundraiser that’s similar, I don't have an issue with that. But that ordinance to me is pretty important because we tend to get a lot of stuff. I'd hate to really move around it, in my opinion, but I have think about that a little bit. Because I know, I just figure if we do it once, we could end up with bigger issues."
Mount Carmel city officials were recently presented with a novel and creative fundraising idea brought forth by the Mount Carmel Class of 2026. At the council meeting on Jan. 23, they heard of plans that will run throughout March and April where two fake toilets painted by students would be placed around town based on donations. This is an interesting twist from the typical fundraisers that the students normally undertake in order to raise money for their activities.
The idea works like this: Anyone can pay $25 to direct a toilet to be placed in a person’s yard, or they can pay $40 to prevent their own yard from being attacked with a toilet. Each toilet will come with a big sign that reads “High School Prom Fundraiser” so everyone knows what the cause is.
School officials are also aware that some people might not want to participate at all, and have promised not stir up any unwanted drama or resentment with those who don't wish to contribute. They have been careful enough to consult city ordinance, which prohibits toilets from appearing in people's yards permanently. As such, these toilets will be moved out of yards every 24 hours unless there is an unforeseen issue such as heavy snowfall that prevents it from happening.
At the most recent council meeting, the city council voted to table the decision to approve a new fundraising event. The event was brought to their attention by one of the local nonprofit organizations and while they were not completely against it, they wanted to take appropriate precautions and ensure that this event would be in compliance with their ordinance. The council is expected to reconvene at their first February meeting for further discussion of this proposal before making an official decision.
In addition to further examining the proposed fundraising event, the city council also made two other motions at the meeting. The Smokin' for Garrett event, for which planning had already been underway, was assigned a date later this year and a 5K run was scheduled for Feb. 25 and will support the Rockets Foundation.
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