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This appeared in the East/North Register on 10-21-04
Unexpected gift aids DM school:
A Des Moines woman throws a rave to raise money for Longfellow Elementary School.
by Amanda Mittlestadt
A young woman recently made a suprise donation to
Longfellow Elementary School on Des Moines' east side.
Jessica Hernandez, 19, of Des Moines raised around $1,000 by
holding a rave outside Ames. By charging $7 or two
children's books as admission, she was also able to give
the school 260 books for its classrooms.
Hernandez attended elementary school in Ankeny and junior
and senior high at Southeast Polk.
"I'd heard about the budget cuts, and Des Moines schools
seem to have more need than suburban schools," she said.
"I wanted to have a rave, but i didn't just want to just
have a party. I wanted it to mean something"
Jan Werth, Longfellow's office manager, said Hernandez asked
Superintendent Eric Witherspoon which school needed money.
"He told her they all did, so she did research," Werth said.
Hernandez said she spent two weeks doing internet searches
to determine which schools needed help.
"I looked at the number of student on free or reduced
lunches. I also considered test scores, previous
donations, and parent-teacher conference attendence." she said.
Once Hernandez had decided on a school to help, she printed
2,500 fliers for the party and distributed them around
high schools and the Drake University campus. She also
registered the rave at a website that allows users to list upcoming parties.
"The rave took my boyfriend and I about four to five months
to plan," Hernandez said. "I couldnt have done it
without him, because he'd organized parties before"
In addition to admission Hernandez also accepted extra
donations and supplies, including crayons and markers, from those who attended.
"It was an all-ages event, but most people were from high
school," she said. "Everyone was so sweet about it.
They'd give me a $10 and say 'no change'"
She also set out an "Instant Karma" can for donations
and sold water for $1. In all Hernandez raised about
$500 and matched that with her own money.
With a box full of cash and three boxes of books, Hernandez
made sure Longfellow's principal, Cecil Brewton, would
be available when she went to the school.
"The school had no idea what I had done" she said.
Brewton said he was suprised.
"I was overjoyed that a person so young had made the
decision to do something good for children and schools,"
he said. "I was impressed with her thought process in
deciding which school would receive her donation"
Hernandez's donation will be used to allow Longfellow
student to go on field trips, Werth said.
"the district has cut funding for field trips, so we divided
the money by grade level," she said "We wanted to make
sure each class gets to go on a field trip this year."
The books were split among the classrooms, Werth said. "We
also allowed the kids to take some of them home."
Following her suprise donation, Hernandez received a letter from Longfellow.
"They said they look at me like a guardian angel," said
Hernandez, who is not currently in school,
but plans to attend Drake and major in child psychology.
"We have, on ocaasion, recieved other random donations,
but none as special as this," Brewton said.
~this is how i decided to start the Support the Future childrens charity.
Last september i out did myself and
was able to give a grand to three different schools in
the des moines area as well as 240 books. I'm on a
mission to make the Des Moines Metro Area a better place.
if you want to help let me know at j ... @supportthefuture.org
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