When word began to spread that freshman Michael Motsenboker’s mother was in a fight with cancer, it didn’t take long for the class of 2017 to make her battle the focus of their community service project.

“We chose her this year because that’s somebody within the community that we heard of who has been struggling with some health issues and financial setbacks from having cancer, unfortunately,” freshman class sponsor Brandon Villarreal said. “What the freshman class is going to do each year is what we call the Month of Madness, whether it is April or May, where those kids are going to go out and do fundraising efforts to get donations from people to put money towards cutting a check for a specific recipient each year to get money to put towards their financial issues they may be having due to medical setbacks.”

This year’s Month of Madness has freshman students going out of their way to raise money for their peer.

“We are walking around the lunch tables and telling people that there are four eggs with $25 in them and then you pay $1 to get an egg and you either win the $25 or you get an egg filled with candy,” freshman Bryn Bittner said.

Each year the recipient will be an individual linked to the school.

“Michelle Motsenboker happens to be our recipient this year, it could be anyone within the district next year, whether it is a student or parent or a family member who lives in the household,” Villarreal said. “Whether it’s a teacher or a faculty member at another school, we will take a month and have the freshman class go out and do car washes, bake sales, tournaments for volleyball and make efforts to raise money for the family for their medical expenses.”

May 16 is the final day for the freshman class to put together the money raised for the Motsenboker family.

“I know a lot of the students are going to try to put something together so that we can cut out a check to the recipient within a reasonable time,” Villarreal said.