April Showers fundraiser to return to Hermitage schools

David L. Dye, The Herald, Sharon, Pa.
·3 min read

Apr. 24—HERMITAGE — When the April Showers fundraiser returns this Friday to Hickory High School, some of the "showers" might come from the sky and the rest will come from a few of the Hermitage Fire Department's trucks.

But regardless of where the water comes from, the students and staff running through the showers will all be doing so to support the Special Olympics — a sport that has 102 new unified bocce teams this school year across Pennsylvania, said teacher Laura Mount, one of Hickory's bocce team coaches and an advisor with Students for Charity.

"The main theme this year that we want people to understand is 'inclusion,' and trying to include everyone in a PIAA sport," Mount said.

The fundraiser came about in 2020, when COVID-19 restrictions prevented the Special Olympics' usual Polar Plunge fundraiser near Pittsburgh. Special Olympics officials encouraged school districts to develop smaller-scale fundraisers instead.

At Hickory High School, which has a unified bocce team of 18 special education students and high school helpers, that alternative was April Showers — where students and staff donate money to the Special Olympics, then run underneath water sprayed by Hermitage firetrucks.

This year's April Showers event will be held in a more visible location — in front of the Hickory High School near the cafeteria, along state Route 18. Previous events were held at a field near the Rodney White Olympic Park, behind the Hermitage municipal building.

"We've had different teams get together for the event, like the football team or wrestling team, but we also get a lot of clubs that will form groups to run through the water together," Mount said.

The money raised does not go straight to Hickory High School's unified bocce team, but is rather donated to the Pennsylvania Special Olympics. Those funds, in turn, are used by the Special Olympics to provide items such as uniform shirts or PVC pipes to make the court.

"These funds help the program pay for those things, so that the parents and students don't have to," Mount said.

Along with any funds raised at the school district, the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio will also match any funds of up to $5,000.

According to Community Foundation information, the program was established by local entrepreneur Jim Winner. The program matches the dollars raised by any organized Students for Charity fundraiser held by students in a Mercer County or Lawrence County high school.

This matching program has benefited the last two April Showers fundraisers held at Hickory High School. Each fundraiser generated about $3,000, which was each increased to $6,000 with the Community Foundation's matching funds, Mount said.

Students for Charity also organized an ice cream social last Friday, where ice cream was sold for donations to the Special Olympics. Waffle bowls were donated by Joy Cone in Hermitage.

"We have other fundraisers like hat days or ice cream socials, but April Showers is our big event for the year," Mount said.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the fundraiser can make their checks out to HHS Students For Charity, and send them to Hickory High School at 640 N. Hermitage Road, Hermitage, so that it can be put toward the matching funds from the Community Foundation.

All of the funds raised between April Showers and the Community Foundation will be sent to the Special Olympics in a single check. Since the actual event is on Friday, organizers ask that any donations be submitted by May 1, Mount said.

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