Students Choose Fundraising over Birthday Gifts

Dickinson students are taking advantage of the fundraiser tool on Facebook to raise funds for charities and organizations of their choice in lieu of birthday gifts.

Both Noah Frank ’20 and Jillian Clark ’19 chose organizations dedicated to gun control: Everytown for Gun Safety and Sandy Hook Promise respectively.  Clark chose her charity because “their mission means a lot to me,” as stated on her fundraiser’s Facebook page.  She has raised $277, surpassing her $200 goal by print time of 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, March 6.

Frank said he “started my fundraiser because I was deeply disturbed by the Parkland shooting. I used to live in Parkland, and my brother is a senior in high school and would have gone to Stoneman Douglas if we hadn’t moved to New Jersey. I was also told that at least one person I know who goes to the school hid in a closet for over an hour.”

“I had heard of [Everytown for Gun Safety] previously and knew that they pushed for common sense gun control measurements, such as universal background checks and limits on assault weapons, which myself and the vast majority of Americans support,” continued Frank. “I decided that if a shooting can happen where I used to live, it truly can happen anywhere, and this made me duty-bound to do something.”

Frank reported that he met his $200 goal in only four days and hopes “in some small way to contribute to the push for change in this country on the issue of gun violence.”  Frank also plans to go to Washinton D.C. on March 24 to participate in the March for Our Lives protest which will “demand that [childrens’ and families’] lives and safety become a priority and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools today,” according to the march’s website.

Another student who has used the fundraiser tool on Facebook chose “the Jonah Maccabee Foundation” for “a couple reasons.”

“First and foremost,” said Solomon Zisser ’20 of his choice to start a fundraiser for the Jonah Maccabee Foundation, “I believe that their mission to fund arts education, Jewish communities for children, and social justice are all in their own right very crucial to our society and the development of “our” kids.

Zisser continued to speak of a personal connection he has to the foundation.  “Jonah Maccabee Dreskin passed away a number of years ago and this foundation was created in his honor. Jonah was a great friend and we actually shared a birthday so this was a great way for me to honor his memory on our special day.”  Zisser was able to raise $445 of his $500 goal before its expiration.

I think that Facebook fundraisers are an easy way to make actual change,” said Zisser. “In these times, we talk a lot about making change and going out there and changing our cultures and societies, and yet we do little to nothing on a daily basis.”

Zisser attributes this lack of daily action to a sense of  “confine[ment] by our wallet size and the strength of our voice and say to ourselves that there is no way for us personally to make any change. Fundraisers like these are a great way to “come together” and take small contributions from everybody to make a real impact in the world.”

Frank’s and Zisser’s fundraisers have expired as of 12 a.m. Wednesday, March 6, but Clark’s fundraiser for the Sandy Hook Promise will be live until Tuesday, March 13.