Two area high school FFA chapters — Crest and Marmaton Valley — recently came together to turn a simple show of school spirit into a meaningful act of community support, donating more than $2,200 to Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center through a suicide awareness T-shirt fundraiser.
Both schools have experienced suicides in the last year.
The idea began informally at Marmaton Valley High School, according to chapter president Sophia Heim.
“The idea came up at my lunch table when a couple of football players were talking about how they, and the Crest football team, were going to wear yellow socks in support for suicide awareness,” Heim said.
From that conversation, the project quickly took shape. Heim worked with her advisor to create a yellow T-shirt carrying a message of hope.
The front read, “If you’re looking for a sign, then this is it,” while the back stated, “Stay; the world needs you in it.”
The effort soon expanded with the Crest FFA selling the shirts at their school.
THE RESPONSE exceeded expectations. In total, 345 shirts were sold at $15 each, after being purchased for about $7.50 apiece. The fundraiser generated $2,214.20 for Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center.
“All together, it was a lot of T-shirts, a lot of organization, but it was two schools coming together for a good cause,” Heim said.
The impact was especially visible at Crest’s homecoming game night, when much of the crowd wore the bright yellow shirts.
Crest FFA Chapter President Blaine King said the support extended beyond initial sales.
“We also sold some remaining T-shirts that night, and it was really cool to see the community come out wearing all those shirts. To see all that support around us was amazing,” King said.
Heim estimated 300 people had donned the shirts.
“If you looked out, you saw a sea of yellow shirts. It was really beautiful,” she said.
“At the end of the game, we had both sides come together into one big prayer circle.”
THE PARTNERSHIP was also notable because the two chapters rarely get a chance to work together.
