Dec 26, 2021 3 min read

Fort Couch Middle School students raised $21,573.90 through their annual Reach Out campaign that spanned from Dec. 8-21. The final total was announced during a virtual assembly Dec. 22.

The effort is led by Fort Couch Student Council and its sponsor, Eliza Luxbacher, with support from the Upper St. Clair school’s administration, teachers and PTSO.

“Each year, all six teams compete to raise the most money in an effort to champion a motivating prize: to earn an afternoon off of school, with food and fun designed specially by the winning team,” Luxbacher said. “Moreover, Reach Out highlights the importance of giving, and it encourages students to team together in order to create an impact: at school, in our community, and in the world.”

Students spearheaded the Reach Out initiative, creating holiday cards to sell, designing posters, editing videos and advocating for support of the four charitable organizations.

“It has been empowering to see students share their energy with us in effort to make Reach Out so incredibly successful this year,” Luxbacher said. “I am so inspired by the kids and their leadership, resilience and flexibility in a continually changing and challenging new mode of learning.”

Student council leadership – including Lily Simons, Molly Biedrzycki and Caroline Barnard – participated in the virtual assembly.

“It was really awesome to see everyone come together to make this work, especially at the end,” said Barnard, seventh-grade student council vice president. “Families have been so generous, and it feels great to support people in our community.”

The money raised will be divided among these organizations:

• Chance to Change Lives – Kids, a nonprofit effort dedicated to help homeless kids in their educational and after-school learning needs. The initiative is led by Kriti Gupta, a ninth-grader at Upper Saint Clair High School, who was inspired by a project on homelessness in America.

Motivated to do something to help the community during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kriti organized a backpack drive to help kids in underserved communities. With continued motivation and a mission to help the educational and other needs of homeless children, she is ready to launch new fundraising initiatives.

• Giant Eagle Gift Cards to Upper St Clair Township Police Department. Each year Reach Out donates $5,000 in gift cards to the department. Police officers then hand deliver these gift cards to families in Upper St. Clair who need a little extra help during the holiday season.
• Bike MS is a fundraising event for multiple sclerosis research that involves more than 1,500 people cycling from north of Pittsburgh to Lake Erie over the span of two days and 150 miles. Fort Couch has a team of teachers, parents, friends and occasionally students from across the district who train all spring while also raising as much money as possible in support of the effort.

Hope for Haiti. Each year Fort Couch students team up with the Yahve-Jire Children’s Foundation to collect and deliver much-needed supplies to children in a small village outside of Port-au Prince, Haiti. The YJCF runs a small orphanage, a school with 60 students in kindergarten through fifth grade, and serves many other children in the town of Croix-des-Bouquets.