Throughout the year, CHS students help organize various fundraisers in order to sponsor special events such as Homecoming, Winter Ball and other occasions. Clubs and class councils use different techniques to raise money and boost participation throughout the school year.

On Feb. 3, the sophomore class council hosted the Ultraviolet Winter Ball, working hard to fundraise and promote the event through emails, posters, social media posts and the bulletin board in the cafeteria.

Sophomore class council member Isabella Remolina of Shrewsbury explains the methods they used to advertise the dance.

“You just really have to think about what you truly need, like decorations wise what you really need to make it pretty but not over the top so that way you don’t spend too much,” Remolina said. “You have to figure out how much you’re willing to spend and how much you’re willng to lose and then see what’s needed and what’s not.”

Other ways that class councils fundraise are through smaller, grade-level events. Whether it is bagging groceries at Shoprite or arranging a bake sale, CHS councils have found many means of fundraising.

Freshman class president Shawn Ribeiro of West Long Branch talks about how he approaches fundraising.

“We just hope to do little things to build team-bonding and also make a little money along the way,” Ribeiro said.

Fundraising has also proven to be difficult because students need to constantly create new activities that everyone is interested in.

“A lot of the stuff we can’t do because it’s either seen as gambling, like raffle tickets, or just because it could be dangerous, like a dodgeball tournament,” Ribeiro said. “So it’s really hard picking out stuff that everybody would like.”

Some clubs, like the Radio Club and Photo Club, will sell merchandise like sweatshirts. The Drama Club, on the other hand, has one main fundraiser: selling tickets for their biannual productions.

“Whatever we spend to put on the show, we usually get back with the ticket sales because we get, like, 200 people a night for $10 dollars a ticket,” senior and Drama Club director Lucy Battista of Tinton Falls said. “We also do concessions at intermission so that we can rack up a few hundred there.”

Class council and club members use a lot of strategies to raise money with many factors to consider, such as budgeting, prioritizing what is important and engaging with the students.

“I would say just trying to find stuff that would let people have a lot of fun and let them express themselves, make it a fun year,” Ribero said.