Make-A-Wish continues in 2021

Not even a pandemic could deter students from Green River High School from hosting the annual Make-A-Wish fundraising events this year.

While the fundraising period has been condensed into a single week this year, there are a number of events the high school plans to host for the entire community.

While the decades-long rivalry between the high schools in Green River and Rock Springs has serves as a fuel for the fundraising, Marisa DeClercq, the student council sponsor at GRHS, said the Wolves are joining forces with the Tigers to combine their fundraising amounts.

“Our motto is ‘Community over competition,’” she said.

She said planning for the fundraising week started in early January and both the pandemic and the timing involved in setting up the fundraiser contributed to limiting various events to a single week, which culminate at the Make-A-Wish basketball games at Rock Springs High School Feb. 25.

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, DeClercq said events at GRHS will follow all school health rules, which include requiring masks to be worn while at the high school and following social distancing protocols. DeClercq said events outside GRHS follow the rules and guidelines are set at those locations.

The fundraiser has come a long way since its inception in 2004, where the two high schools raised a combined $1,500. Last year, $28,702 was raised by GRHS students. The funding is also critical to Make-A-Wish’s Wyoming Chapter, which receives approximately a third of its operating budget though high school fundraisers throughout Wyoming, with a majority of that funding coming from Sweetwater County.

Make-A-Wish events

Feb. 18

Music Bingo at the GRHS Commons:

6:30-8:30 p.m., $5 per music board

Feb. 19

Green River’s Got Talent at the GRHS Auditorium: 7-9 p.m., $10 to enter, $5 to spectate

Archery games at the Archery Barn:

6-9 p.m., adults - $10, children 12 and under - $5

Feb. 20

Cornhole tournament at the GRHS Gym: 2-5 p.m. $10 per team of two

Escape Room at GRHS: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., $5 per person

Feb. 22

Tennis tournament at the GRHS Gym: 7:30-9 p.m., $5 to play, $3 to spectate

Feb. 24

Movie night at the GRHS Auditorium:

7-9 p.m., $5 single, $9 couple, $15 for family of four

Feb. 25

Make-A-Wish basketball games at RSHS:

Girls varsity at 5:30 p.m., boys varsity at 7:30 p.m.