Better Together 2024 has finished. From Friday, Feb. 23, to Sunday, March 10, La Salle students worked to raise money for the school through their personal fundraising pages and the wreath sale.
The total amount raised this year was $146,412, which is “the most we’ve ever raised from the fundraiser” Ms. Maura Carpinello, Director of Giving and Alumni Relations, said. In total there were 979 different donors.
The sophomore class raised the most money, bringing in $31,447 from 332 different donors. They were followed closely by the freshmen who raised $28,464 and had 318 donors. The junior class came next with $19,175 and 174 donors, and finally the senior class raised $17,348 and had 174 donors.
Individually, the top four donors to Better Together were Vance Sheffield ‘25, Matthew Martin ‘27, Larissa Bonn ‘26, and Luke Winningham ‘26. They raised a total of $9,457.
This year the student leadership team, who works closely with the administration to make Better Together happen, decided it would be fun to shift the focus to grade-level competitions — as opposed to last year which was mainly homeroom based. “[Student leaders] were really big throughout the student fundraiser and focusing on grade level incentives,” Ms. Carpinello said.
This year, the Advancement team collaborated with two small groups of Leadership class students. One group put together the Better Together video, and the other group came up with all of the prizes for the fundraiser.
Another change this year was the introduction of the coin drive. The coin drive was set up in the main hallway and encouraged students to put change in their grade’s bucket. Bills counted as negative points against a class, while coins counted toward the class’s total. Being completely student created and run, the coin drive stemmed from several students in the Leadership class who went to the Lasallian Student Leaders conference (LSL). They heard from their peers about a coin drive conducted at other La Salle schools across the nation and thought it would be fun to bring here. Overall, the coin drive ended up bringing in over $600.
Funds from Better Together are split in half, with 50% going directly to tuition assistance which is used to offer students and families scholarships. The other 50% goes toward student programming. Most notably, the funds help make St. La Salle Day, assemblies, retreats, immersion, and other student activities possible.
In years to come, the Advancement team hopes to bring some changes to Better Together. “We’re looking to reshape what that could look like,” Ms. Carpinello said. “Since you all do a lot of the work with it, we want to make sure that it’s something that you can get excited about and be proud to share.”
Overall, Better Together plays an important role in La Salle’s mission, and this year it was a major success. “It’s a really important value in Lasallian education to make education accessible to everyone,” Ms. Carpinello said. “It makes for a dynamic school environment too where you have people really from every walk of life here together as peers, as friends, working together, studying together.”
Finally, Ms. Carpinello said, “I want to congratulate and thank the students for participating … It makes a difference when the students are bonded and when the students believe in what we’re doing.”
