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(HOWARD, SD) – Howard High School students raised nearly $4,000 to help support patients in need during the fall semester of 2023.
As Howard High School Student Body President, senior Faith Genzlinger spearheaded the campaign. The Foundation terminated its Tigers Step Up to Cancer campaign in 2023 so the Student Council and advisor, Jean Morrison, took the campaign on, renaming it Fight Like a Tiger.
Genzlinger did the lion’s share of the work raising money via T-shirt sales, Morrison said. She met with school administrators, worked on the T-shirt design, sent letters to local businesses, called T-shirt companies for pricing, and coordinated the sales. The campaign began in August and ran through the first semester of school. Students used social media via Facebook to drum up support. Morrison has a wide network due to her job as a teacher in the district.
“That’s Howard,” she said. “We’re all related. Everybody knows me.”
Anna Wiederrich, Horizon Health Foundation Development Officer, had first-hand experience with the Tigers Step Up effort prior to joining the Foundation staff. She helped with it during her time on the Howard High School Student Council.
“The financial contribution the Howard High School Student Council is providing to the Foundation is a representation of what Horizon Health Care and the Horizon Health Foundation are about,” she said. “These are the students making sure that those experiencing cancer in Miner County can have assistance through grocery and gas cards, along with colonoscopies for patients that qualify for assistance and iFob kits.”
When all was said and done, students sold 183 shirts and raised $3,759.27. The money will go to patients of Horizon Health Care who need additional resources for cancer care, behavioral health, transportation to the clinics or grocery cards for food.
“As a Howard Tiger alum myself, I find immense joy to learn that the focus on fundraising for our community members experiencing cancer has continued,” Wiederrich said. “These students are facilitating change in their community through their efforts with Fight Like a Tiger!”
Serving on the Student Council since her sophomore year gave Genzlinger the opportunity to work on the original Tigers Step Up program.
“I’ve been able to see the impact it’s made in our community and that’s not something I wanted to see disappear,” she said.
Genzlinger’s goal was to do something that would make up a fraction of what the Horizon Health Foundation had done in the past.
“I think we did,” she said of the campaign. “I’m proud of what we accomplished. I hope this can be used for whatever patients need whether it’s help with their treatment payments or gas or groceries or even birthday and Christmas presents for kids.”
The community of Howard has been touched by cancer in the past, Morrison said. Students have had friends and family members who battled the disease. Morrison said it’s important to the students that the new money raised stays local.
The Horizon Health Foundation was established in 2016 to ensure rural health care access to those in need and provide funding for Horizon Health Care. Horizon Health Foundation, a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation, seeks through responsible activities to encourage and derive sustaining gift support from current and former patients and interested friends, including corporate entities. The Horizon Health Foundation, operating in coordination with Horizon Health Care, is the duly designated fundraising arm for Horizon Health Care. In the broadest sense, the purpose of the Foundation is to create an awareness of the financial needs of Horizon Health Care, which are not provided by patient charges and to systematically implement plans by which dollar needs can be met. For information about supporting our mission go to https://horizonhealthfoundation.com/
About Horizon Health Care
For over 40 years, Horizon Health Care has been providing personalized, affordable, high-quality medical, dental and behavioral health care through a rural, community-based network in South Dakota. Horizon is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves the medical, dental and mental health care needs of South Dakotans in rural, medically underserved areas through 110,000 patient visits annually in 31 community health centers in: Aberdeen, Alcester, Bison, Bryant, De Smet, Eagle Butte, Elk Point, Faith, Fort Thompson, Howard, Huron, Isabel, La Plant, Lake Preston, Martin, McIntosh, Mission, Plankinton, Wessington Springs, White River, Woonsocket, and Yankton. For more information, please visit www.horizonhealthcare.org.