Courtesy Geoff Elliot
Middle Park High School juniors Brianna Renteria and Katie Trail wanted to contribute to the school community — and the world.
That’s why, as part of the school’s Interact Club, they’ve helped to organize Blizzard Fest. Featuring live music and pictures with Santa, all money raised will go toward building clean water systems in Nicaragua.
Brianna and Katie are the president and vice president, respectively, of the service club sponsored by local Rotary organizations. Along with other students and help from Rotary advisors, the club has put together this event.
“This is a really great opportunity to help the community,” Brianna said. “Come out and come have fun here in Granby. It allows you to help the world without leaving the community.”
Blizzard Fest will be 5-7 p.m. Dec. 12 at Middle Park High School.
The festival will have crafts, a gift making station and baked goods that will cost a certain number of tokens. They will also be accepting donations during the event and all funds will go to the cause.
The club members chose to support building latrines in Nicaragua because one of their rotary mentors, Geoff Elliot, recommended they try spreading their impact across the world. He had previously done work with the Rotary Club for sanitation in Nicaragua.
Both girls are excited for the event and to share the philanthropy, which is something they’ve learned a lot about from their club.
“I’ve learned that there are so many things that need help around the world,” Brianna said. “There are a lot of things people can work on. Even the littlest things can help people anywhere.”
Last year, the Interact Club hosted Blizzard Fest but didn’t see a lot of participation because of a lack of publicity. The students are hoping to get more attendees this year to help raise money for the cause.
Interact’s work doesn’t stop there. The club is already brainstorming fundraisers for next semester.
“With Interact and the community we have you can never run out of ideas to help people,” Katie said. “It’s never boring at all.”