“Our first annual Mattress Fundraiser was a hit,” said Johnston High School music teacher Matthew Gingras while assessing Saturday’s unusual event. “By selling 15 mattresses, our Music Department was able to raise money for the senior scholarship fund.”
Jason Glander, a ranking area official from Custom Fundraising Solutions that partnered with the JHS Music Department for last Saturday’s mattress sale fundraiser, was equally complimentary the efforts of Gingras, Oliver Reid and Director Ronald Lamoureux that brought the fundraising concept to fruition.
“It was an absolute pleasure working with Ron and Matt,” said Glander, who heads the Providence office of CFS that includes Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut. “They are one of the most enthusiastic groups we’ve worked with; they are passionate for their students and the entire program is indeed inspiring.”
While Glander didn’t yet have an exact dollar amount that Saturday’s event raised, he said the mattress fundraiser resulted in approximately $2,000 for the JHS Music Department with some additional revenues possible once people who attended the event decide whether or not they will make a purchase.
Glander, who was assisted by a sales staff that included Kate Finnegan Popowich, Blake Shailes and Marvin Sarita, also said that CFS is hoping to work with the Johnston Music people to build this event as a household name in the community. He also complimented JHS Music Department students, who did everything from dress in mattress garb, put up signs, and even stood by Atwood Avenue alerting passers that there was a Mattress Fundraiser going on inside the school cafeteria.
When the fundraiser was first announced, JHS Music and CFS officials were hoping to hold the event in the school’s Edward L. DiSimone gym, but the cafeteria provided a better setting and the students noted “it was fun transforming the cafeteria into a bedroom showplace.”
With another success story in the books, Gingras said “we’re turning our focus on the first-ever “Festival Concert” that will be held on Thursday evening, March 23 in the school’s auditorium at 7 p.m. Admission will only be $5 per person and available when doors open at 6:30 p.m.”
The “Festival Concert” will be another opportunity for Johnstonians and music lovers to see the Jazz Band, Concert Chorus, Percussion Ensemble, and Select Choir, which are ranked among the best high school groups in the state and will compete against musical groups from high schools across the country when they travel to Williamsburg, Va. for highly-acclaimed Music in the Parks event in April.
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