SWEETWATER COUNTY — Student councils at Rock Springs High School and Green River High School will launch the second year of their joint Love Local fundraiser, continuing an effort designed to keep more charitable dollars within Sweetwater County.

The fundraiser, created last year, directs most of the money raised to local individuals and families in need while still donating $8,000 annually to Make-A-Wish Wyoming, enough to grant one wish.

Last year, Love Local raised about $28,000. Organizers hope to exceed that total this year.

Marisa Kalinski, GRHS student council advisor, said the shift came after years of raising between $60,000 and $80,000 annually for Make-A-Wish, when the county only saw about on $8,000 wish being granted a year. In 18 years, the schools donated more than $1 million to the organization.

While Kalinski called Make-A-Wish “a phenomenal cause,” she said organizers realized much of the money raised locally was leaving the community.

“We just felt like that money could definitely be used here,” Kalinski said. “Giving back to our community and supporting the people around us is important.”

Under the Love Local model, community members submit applications outlining specific needs and estimated costs. A committee reviews the applications and determines how to distribute available funds.

Last year’s donations helped provide a nonverbal child with an iPad equipped with communication software, paid off medical bills for several families, supported a women’s shelter with essential supplies, assisted a family recovering from a house fire, and eliminated school lunch debt in both districts.

Unlike Make-A-Wish, which serves children with critical illnesses, Love Local is open to anyone in the community who applies and demonstrates need.

Kalinski said another factor in the change was the competitive nature of the previous fundraiser. The event ended with one school declared the winner, sometimes leaving students disappointed despite raising tens of thousands of dollars for charity.

“We would spend two weeks raising $30,000 to $40,000, and then kids would cry because they lost,” Kalinski said. “The pressure to win started to outweigh the good we were doing.”

Now the schools collaborate instead of competing. Each student council plans and runs its own week of events, with students organizing activities, promoting the fundraiser, and coordinating logistics with Kalinski and RSHS student council advisor Amberlee Beardsley.

This year’s events include music trivia, a student-versus-staff volleyball game, a yoga and wellness night, a Sweetwater’s Got Talent show at Western Wyoming Community College, and partnerships with local businesses, and all events are open to the public. 

Kalinski said the fundraiser would not be possible without community support. “We live in such an amazing community, without them we wouldn’t be able to pull something like this off.”