The day your coach or adviser hands out those fundraising forms seems like the ultimate nightmare. Forms are immediately shoved into the depths of a junk drawer or hidden in stacks of paper within a backpack.

However, fundraising is a necessity for clubs and sport programs and shouldn’t be pushed aside.

From car washes to cookies, every program usually has at least one fundraiser per year, and depending on the amount of money needed to be raised, each group usually sets a goal that everyone strives for.  Whether it’s 10 boxes of M&Ms or 50 boxes, there is normally a prize or reward when the order forms and money are submitted.

When that time comes, there are always those people who barely have five order forms in hand, and who don’t reach their individual fundraising goal.

Sure, the team as a whole may have met their fundraising goal in spite of individual people’s lack of effort to reach theirs. However, that’s only because other people on the team sold more than they were required.

That’s not fair.

I have one question for those who say they love the sport or club so much, yet don’t participate in a fundraiser that could benefit the program in various ways: “Why?”

Why do you want the benefits without working for it?

Why do you make other people do your fundraising for you?

Why don’t you see that your efforts are just as important?

The program that you choose to participate in depends on your efforts to raise money and help fund their needs. Still, some choose not step up and take responsibility for their teammates and peers.

“It may not be my favorite, but it is beneficial to the program in the end,” said senior Gabbi Morris, captain of the varsity volleyball team.

Morris said the volleyball teams worked together very well in participating in the fundraisers this season and “raised a lot more [money] than expected.”

Morris expressed how this money will be put towards essentials, such as equipment and transportation, but can also be put forth to “luxuries,” such as warm up T-shirts and other types of sport wear for the varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams.

If only everyone were like Morris and knew how to prioritize and put the needs of their team or club first.

So next time you get a Yankee Candle order form in your hand from your coach or your adviser, don’t neglect it. Your team is counting on you.