Feature article

Project Graduation lives again!

Article by Tammy Lane
April 10, 2008

  Project Graduation – a drug- and alcohol-free celebration for all Fayette County seniors – is back.
  “It’s bigger than I thought it would ever be,” said Rebekah Dailey, a senior at Henry Clay High School who has labored nearly a year to help revive the event.
  The goal is to provide graduates with a safe, fun environment without temptations.
  “I had been involved my freshman year, and it was a big success,” said Dailey, who, with classmate Vashae Swope, took the lead in organizing the 2008 event.
  The theme of the May 17 open-air celebration is “A Night on the Town.” It’s a lock-in at Applebee’s Park – home of the Lexington Legends – complete with a DJ and a game room. Party offerings also will include an obstacle course, karaoke, a rock climbing wall and sack races. Seniors will compete and win play money, which they can use to buy prizes at an auction. They could pick up flat-screen TVs, MP3s or dorm refrigerators, to name a few.
  “Each individual will take away their own special memories of spending a night of celebration with their friends and having a great time,” Swope said.
  While only seniors can get prizes, underclassmen are encouraged to attend as volunteers. They can earn points toward scholarship money based on their participation.
  “There’ll be tons of activities going on that night,” said Rayann White, who heads the planning committee along with Dailey and Swope.
  White, who works in sales and marketing at the Herald-Leader, no longer has children in school, but still is involved. She had helped with Project Graduation in the past.
  “The event has lain dormant for about a year or two. When the girls approached me, we had basically nothing to work with,” said White, who also mentors Dailey. “I said, ‘Let’s lay a foundation.’”
  That was last summer. Since then, the organizers have pulled together a planning team of 20 to 25 people, with representatives from several high schools. The group has secured nonprofit status, met with corporate leaders to line up contributions and asked more than 3,000 area businesses for help via mail.
  “It’s a great way for their business or organization to give back to the community,” Swope said.
  Organizers also have been selling candy and personalized “Congratulations” yard signs for graduates to raise funds. Volunteers will be asking for donations outside the Wal-Mart in Hamburg and on Nicholasville Road between noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. Candy and yard signs also will be for sale April 19 during a 5K race at Bryan Station High School.
  Lots of volunteers and donations (money, services and prizes) still are needed. “Anything – we will greatly appreciate it,” Dailey said.
  Among the chief sponsors so far are Pepsi, which White said has provided at least $17,000 worth of prizes and radio and TV commercials; the Site-Based Decision-Making Council at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, $2,500; the Bluegrass Prevention Center, $1,200; Smucker’s, $1,000; and Kentucky American Water, $1,000. White hopes a car dealership will step up, too, and maybe donate a new ride.
  “We need community support and donations to pull this off,” she said. “We don’t want the kids to be let down.”

TO HELP
Make checks payable to:
Project Graduation FC 2008
Mail to:
Project Graduation
838 E. High St., Suite 165
Lexington KY 40503
Contact: Rayann White, rayannbw@aol.com
Online: www.pgefc.com

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