FARMINGTON—It’s not often that teenagers want to give up their hard-earned money, but students at Clearfield High did just that.They emptied their pockets as part of the school’s “Falcons are Fabulous” event and raised more than $82,000 to donate to Davis County’s Children's Justice Center (CJC). They were recognized by the commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting.

“Each year we’re in charge of raising money for charities,” said Eva Butler, SBO over service. “We reached out to Commissioner (Lorene) Kamalu and asked what charities needed help. We toured the CJC and had a strong feeling we wanted to raise money for them.”

It’s a school tradition to raise money for charity, Butler said. “We did a million little fundraisers. There was the miracle minute where we had a bucket and people could drop in money. We also did lip sync battles and penny wars. Pennies are positive and everything else is negative. Each grade competed against another grade. We got $900 in pennies. Day by day, little by little we reached a huge goal.”

Butler said when the service officers took their positions last April they started looking for charities they could donate to. “We worked in the summer then put it into action in the fall. Falcons are Fabulous is in December for 10 days.”

As part of the fundraising efforts, kids also go into the community for donations, she said. “We buy food from businesses and then we resell it. One hundred percent goes straight to the charity.”

The goal was $48,000, she said. “We weren’t sure we’d make it. But at the closing assembly when they revealed the check it was the most emotional thing ever. All the hours, days, weeks it took – we had tears in our eyes. It was so difficult but so rewarding.”

A representative from CJC was at the assembly, said Butler. “We flipped over a big check of $77,000. More money came trickling in over the next two weeks so it came to $82,034.35.”

“We are privileged to have youth who are service oriented,” said Kamalu. “They do incredible things such as being a friend to someone who needs one. It’s not as public but just as important.”

A big giant wow, Kamalu said of the donation. “That’s a lot of money, especially for high schoolers.”

“At first I thought it was a typo and they meant $4,500,” said Julie Stephenson, Interim Director and Victim Coordinator for the CJC. “These funds will help with victims who need acute therapy and mental health needs. It will provide for families to get therapy right away and cover the cost of whatever the insurance doesn’t cover and other needs. CJC provides medical exams, crisis intervention and other resources to help the healing process begin.”

The Davis County community is consistently giving to us, she said. “In addition to cash donations they bring snacks, drinks, stuffed animals and blankets. We give them (children) a stuffed animal and blanket when they leave to give them comfort. Community members are coming daily and weekly dropping stuff off to provide a warm place for kiddos to come during a hard time.” 

This donation is just amazing, said Stephenson. “Taking care of us helps us take care of kids.”