The Big Give, put on by student council, raised nearly $5,000 for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Through events like the talent show, t-shirt sales for the JHS vs UHS basketball game, shoe contest at lunch, a dodgeball tournament and many more, the school came together in support of JDRF.

The idea to fundraise for JDRF came from senior Melinda Paszkiewicz at a summer student council meeting. She brought up her idea again when student council began to decide what to do for the Big Give.

“The final decision was for JDRF because we knew how much it affects everyone in our school since most (students) have a relative or someone they know with the disease, and there are also students who personally have type l diabetes,” Paszkiewicz said. “I was motivated to have this be the cause because my sister has type l (diabetes).”

One popular event included the shoe contest at lunch. Paper shoes for JDRF were sold for $1 each and hung on the walls, starting at the lunch room. The shoe sales were sorted by grades, including a staff section, and the race was on to see which class could buy the most shoes and reach the gym. Names of those who bought shoes were also entered into a raffle, sorted by class. The class with the most shoe sales then received the most number of drawings from a raffle for restaurant gift cards. In the end, the senior class with the green-colored shoes won the contest. Over $300 was raised for JDRF from the shoe contest.

Another popular event was the talent show. Eighteen student acts performed their talents for an audience of students and parents. Tickets were sold for $5 at the door of the middle school auditorium to watch acts ranging from singing a song to an improvised comedy act. Junior Marcus Miller placed first when he played a mashup of popular songs including “Counting Stars” and “All The Right Moves” by OneRepublic on his fiddle. An improvised comedy group made up of seniors David Rice, Michael Hanstad, Carter Mehls, Ethan Moran and Nick Wyman called Improvination placed second. Junior Samantha Wilkinson place third when she sang and played her guitar to “The Great Escape.” The Big Give talent show raised nearly $1,500 in ticket sales and donations.

The Big Give started three years ago, originally being a week of giving, and was later expanded to a month. The first year, money was raised for the American Cancer society. The second year, money was raised and given back to the Johnston community.