On November 18, 2023, Grayslake Central High School’s Student Council held their annual fundraiser, the “Miracle Minute.”

Student council members were allowed one minute to go into classrooms during sixth block.
In that single minute, Student Council members were given an envelope and their goal was to fill it with as much loose change as possible from Grayslake Central’s students and staff.

The goal of this 60-second fundraiser is to collect as much money as possible to give to the families within the community that were in need of a Thanksgiving dinner. The money earned was used to buy fresh foods that could be used for Thanksgiving dinners for low income families that couldn’t afford a traditional big feast.

Miracle Minute was overseen by the sponsor of Student Council, Ms. Jazmyne Garcia, and students from the Executive Board of Student Council, including sophomore Maya Malaczek and junior Sarah Bianchi. They were assets in running this single minute mission, which takes quite a bit of planning and  consideration.

   For example, there was a need for lots of communication to explain and give directions to other student council members where they needed to be, what their job was, and which classrooms they needed to collect pocket change and money from.

The Executive Board also needed to figure out which classes during sixth block were open and had students present to collect from. “So we all got along really well and we got it done. So, it was a lot of work but we got it done,” said Maya Malaczek. For just this single minute, the planning took time, plenty of consideration and the prep started shortly after Homecoming, so Miracle Minute would run as smoothly as possible.

After sending the Student Council members out for this one minute mission, they returned with the bags filled with change. The Miracle Minute raised over $800 total, and helped supplement the Food Drive, which helped provide 54,000 meals for families in our community and the Avon Food Bank.

When asked what their favorite part of this fundraiser was, Sarah Bianchi said “… like counting it all up and seeing what we were able to get, because it always kind of blows my mind like how in one minute what we are able to make.

There is an important lesson in this program beyond collecting change. In just one minute alone, our school community managed to raise over $800, which is equivalent to 6,400 pounds of food. It’s encouraging to see the student body coming together to support a great GCHS tradition. Overall, the food drive was a huge success and a rewarding experience for all involved. It is by far a defining testament to the community’s support and the hard work Grayslake Central students and staff give back to the community; even a single minute can mean more than you would expect and believe.