The Lindenhurst High School’s National Honor Society is truly living by its motto of Character, Scholarship, Leadership, and Service. Recently, the McCandless family of Lindenhurst was struck with misfortune when Kaelyn, the youngest child of seven, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In lieu of this, the Honor Society made it their goal to quickly raise as much money as possible. Through this, two fast-cash fundraisers were spawned.

When looking for fundraising ideas, the Honor Society wanted to avoid our typical high school raffles, bake sales and catalog fundraisers. Instead, Lindenhurst Alum Amanda Munz reached out to the students with an idea. After graduating nearly a decade ago, Munz founded the Fashion Foundation, an organization that focuses on obtaining designer clothing and selling the items for discounted prices, the proceeds of which go towards the purchase of school supplies for inner-city children. Munz was gifted with a donation of over 1,100 pairs of designer Muk Luk socks, and in an attempt to sell them, she reached out to the students of Lindenhurst High School for help. Conveniently a fitting “Lindy Green,” the Honor Society went on to sell these Muk Luk socks for two weeks during October, splitting the proceeds between the Fashion Foundation and the McCandless family.

Following the sock sales, the Honor Society wanted to make another push to for fast-cash, trying to find something that would attract the interest of all students. But what could be something that would encourage both students and staff to get involved for a cause? Thus, the Pie the Teacher fundraiser was born. On Wednesday, October 17th, over twenty teachers volunteered to be pelted with bowls of whipped cream throughout the course of the day. Staged in the rotunda, students would leave the cafeteria during their lunch periods, and for $5 a bowl, students were given the opportunity to throw the bowl of cream at any teachers, administrators, and faculty members who volunteered. With almost every student in the building either participating or spectating, the event became an instant success.  Teachers and staff volunteered were Mr. Smith, Master Sergeant Resker, Ms. Ruggerio, Coach Pollard, Mr. Santoro, Ms. Aurigemma Ms. Buechner, Mr. Henderson, Ms. Kelly, Ms. Heyer, Ms. Bottachiari, Ms. Wilbert, Mr. McGroary, Mr. Ehrhardt, Bob the Security, Mr. Boccanfuso, Mr. Campbell, Student Council President Austin Martinez, National Honor Society President Efraim Laguna, Robotics President Rachel Warren, and Lindy Cares President Elizabeth Johansen. Faculty like Ms. Flannelly enjoyed throwing the pies as much as the students.

By the end of the day, the refrigerator that was once entirely filled with cans of whipped cream laid empty. The Pie the Teacher event raised a total of $838, and, when combined with the sock fundraiser, the National Honor Society was able to donated over $1100 to the McCandless family. When asked about the fundraiser Ms. Scharf said, “It was such a fun time!  I was a tad scared, but after the first pie it was such a blast. Seeing all the kids have fun throwing the whip cream at us, made the time even more enjoyable.” The event may have been enjoyable, but it was making a difference that seemed to matter the most. NHS President Ephraim Laguna stated, “I wanted to help the McCandless family in any way possible and so did the rest of the NHS.  This cause touched everyone from teachers to administrators and it’s important that when hard times come around, we all unite as a community and stand stronger together.”