Optimists Raise Funds to Purchase Three Letterman Jackets for High Schoolers

The Moreno Valley Optimist Club held a fundraiser earlier this month so it can continue to give back to Moreno Valley youth. Hosted by the Brunswick Bowl, Moreno Valley Optimist Club members invited the community to help them raise funds to purchase letterman jackets for Moreno Valley High School students. The program was established just a few years ago after MVHS AVID and athletics teacher Lea Snell reached out to the community-based organization after she noticed not many students were sporting the jackets because they simply couldn't afford them. The recent fundraiser helped raise over $700 — enough to purchase at least three additional jackets. "It's a continuing program," explained Michael Maynard, an Optimist member of four years. "It's not just for seniors, either, but lower-classmen as well. That way they have time to wear and enjoy the jackets." In order to qualify to receive a letterman jacket from the club, students must first meet a certain criteria, including a solid GPA and community service hours, amongst other prerequisites. The average cost of one letterman jacket, after it is fitted to the student's build and patches are added, is about $275 each, explained Maynard. "It's an astronomical cost," he said. "When it came to our attention that there weren't that many students wearing them because they couldn't afford them, we just wanted to help." Fundraisers like this one help the club gather the funds to purchase the jackets for as many qualifying students as they can; though the club is currently only working with Moreno Valley High School, it is in the process of trying to establish criteria and move ahead with jacket fundraising to provide high school students in the Val Verde Unified School District with jackets, too, shared Maynard. A portion of the ticket sales during the Jan. 18 fundraiser went to the club, while raffle ticket sales helped bring in more monetary donations. The club raffled off gifts donated by local businesses including Moss Bros., Ayres Hotel, Starbucks, Emergiready, the Brunswick Bowl and Visterra Credit Union, to name a few. The club donates the jackets to students throughout the school year. In November, around Homecoming, the Optimists gave seven students their letterman jackets during a regular school board meeting. Maynard said he expects the next giveaway to be sometime in the spring, possibly before the school break.