The National Honor Society officers presented a check to Ms. Kara Shrum, the Corporate Relations Manager for the Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center March 16.

Earlier in the year, NHS hosted a fundraising event where they collected spare coins in water bottles for the Children’s Advocacy Center.

“The Children’s Advocacy Center is a charity organization that supports children in Collin County who are abused or neglected through therapy, supplies, and just by being there for them,” NHS secretary Heath Hadley said.

This fundraiser was NHS treasurer Emily Combest’s service project for the third nine weeks.

“I was in charge of reaching out to the center, planning when we would have all the coins sorted and counted, and coordinating a time for them to come pick up the money we raised,” Combest said.

NHS members collected these coins for several weeks before turning them in. This allowed members opportunities to earn service hours, both by collecting coins and sorting through them.

“Besides delivering the check, I, alongside other NHS members, raised around $1,300 in coins,” NHS vice president Ryah Hill said. “Those coin bottles get heavy, but so many students donated and it’s awesome to see all of our hard work pay off.”

Approximately $1000 is spent per child each year at the Children’s Advocacy Center.

“My favorite part of this service project was getting to hear Ms. Shrum talk about what the advocacy center does and knowing that our donation was going to help kids in tough situations,” Combest said. “This is something that NHS has done for the last few years, and every year, NHS raises quite a bit of money and they are always really appreciative.”

The Children’s Advocacy Center still accepts volunteers and donations of either money or new/gently used items.

“I’m really proud of our organization continuing to grow and help our community,” Hill said.