Wheat Ridge High School hosted our second annual Project Sol Flower fundraising event last week (Feb. 5-9). It was a very fun and successful week full of fundraising, activities, and funky spirit days. Even though we don’t have a total count of how much we raised yet, it was well over fourteen hundred dollars.
Project Sol Flower is an organization similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation; however, it provides bucket list items to people with terminal illnesses aged 18-25.
The non-profit is the brainchild of Kaydee Koch, a Wheat Ridge High School alumni. Kaydee graduated in 2019 and attended Gonzaga University with aspirations of becoming a Physician Assistant in pediatric oncology. Kaydee battled with pediatric bone cancer for 4 years, until she tragically passed away on May 13, 2022.
Her obituary describes her as, loved enormously in her short life, and that love will carry us on until we see her again.” From what her former teachers at the Farm have said, this is an accurate description.
Wheat Ridge partnered with several local businesses, including Chick-Fil-La, Esters, and Raising Cane’s, to raise funds for the cause. We also had a raffle for students who to buy tickets during lunch and after school, hoping to win a prize. There were several more fundraisers throughout the week, all attempting to send our sponsor, Sydney, on a tropical vacation. Sydney is 21 and has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. All proceeds from our week went to granting her bucket list item.
Students enjoyed celebrations as we passed fundraising milestones, during the Thursday morning assembly. Juniors Finn and Gannon Smith shaved their heads in honor of the Project Sol Flowers cause. English teacher Tim Slater, SSN teacher Brianna Huffman, and principal Lisa Mahanna got a face full of whipped cream, when they were pied in the face to reward the students for meeting the fundraising goal.
Project Sol Flower is an organization that holds a huge place in the hearts of our Wheat Ridge community. As a school, we were very excited to get to work with them again this year and create a positive impact on others’ lives. True to the saying “once a Farmer, always a Farmer,” keeping Kaydee Koch’s dream alive through our annual fundraising week creates a fantastic feeling throughout the Farm!
