After 12 years of donating the money to the Cancer Care Foundation of Brevard, the cheerleaders have changed foundations and now will be donating the money raised from Cheer for Charity to the Candlelighters of Brevard.

“It works out really good,” Coach Carrie Wadzinski said. “At the end of the day we give around $1,500 to the cancer foundation.”

The annual fund-raiser attracts children from ages 5 to 14 to learn dances, stunts, jumps, cheers and chants from the school’s varsity and junior varsity cheerleaders. Each camper will pay $25 to attend the March 2 event.

Senior and cheer captain Lexi Potter has organized this year’s event as part of her Senior Project, designing the fliers, choosing the curriculum and ordering the lanyards and cups.

“My inspiration was to just keep the event going,” Potter said. “This will be the 12th year of Cheer for Charity, and I thought it would be a fun event to put on.”

Freshman Rachel Benezra said she’s excited because it’s her first Cheer for Charity but also sad because it will be her last time performing with the seniors.

“We will be performing our halftime routines back-to-back for the last time all together with the seniors, so it will definitely be emotional,” she said.

Cheer for Charity also will be bittersweet for Potter.

“I’m sad this is going to my last event,” she said. “But it’s a great way to spend more time with my team.” 

By Lexi Vorndran