A $1,000 check made out to the Child Abuse and Neglect Council of Oakland County was presented Tuesday by members of the Oxford High School DECA Club.
DECA students raised the money as part of a class project dealing in public relations, according to DECA advisor and marketing teacher Steve Ruch.
Part of the donation, $200, was derived from proceeds from the club’s annual Bowl Out, held in December 2002 at Collier Lanes.
The rest of the money was solicited by DECA from the OHS student council and The Tan Company, located in Oxford at 112 N. Washington.
Student council donated $500 and The Tan Company kicked in $300.
The money will be used to help finance the Council’s “Nurturing Program,” a 15-week course designed to instruct at-risk parents and children how to solve their problems in a nonviolent manner, according to Executive Director Pat Rosen.
Rosen called it the organization’s “no excuses program” because once a week it provides families with a meal, transportation to and from the program via a car service and child care for children under age 5, all free of charge.
“They have no reason not to attend,” she said.
However, providing free meals and transportation every week is “very costly,” so DECA’s donation was not only greatly appreciated, it was very much needed, Rosen said.
Rosen said the organization also appreciated the DECA students hosting of Halloween and Christmas parties last year for Nurturing Program parents and children.
“It was fantastic,” she said. “The kids loved it.”
For the Halloween party, DECA students bought sub sandwiches and candy, staged party games such as bobbing for apples and rented videos to watch.
For the Christmas party, DECA members bought the kids gifts using money from their own pockets and had someone dress up as Santa Claus to hand them out.
Nurturing Program Coordinator Tricia Schuster said DECA’s involvement provided a “positive influence” for the program’s kids because it showed them teenagers helping others.
The DECA Club also conducted special collections at the high school and Bowl Out, in which students and bowlers donated items needed at the Council’s center in Pontiac such as toys, cleaning supplies, toiletries, snack foods and beverages like juice boxes.