Students at Moline High School are preparing their annual effort to help needy students in the district. This year's Share Joys campaign kicks off Wednesday.
English teacher Heidi Norcross says each year students and staff organize a variety of activities in December to raise money. In recent years they've raised about 47,000 dollars each year, and that's been enough to buy new clothes for 300 children.
"This is the time of year when we really are looking to help students in need. But also to show the rest of our students and student body how good it feels to give back to their community, and hopefully teach them about continuing this type of philanthropy for the rest of their lives."
Since it started in 1949, Share Joys has raised a total of more than 1.2 million dollars.
Kicking off the campaign this year will be the Donut Eating Contest Wednesday morning at Moline High School. Thirty teams of four students each have collected pledges based on the number of donuts one team member will eat. But that number is just the beginning since fellow team members are encouraged to cheat and hide as many donuts from the judges as they can.
Each year the donut eating contest brings in about 15,000 dollars, or nearly one-third of the Share Joys total.
