SAC vs. the Third World
Our lowly organization, Eagle Spirit, had a dream. We had a dream
to great, so inspiring we were willing to sacrifice anything for it.
We even dared to challenge the awesome power of SAC (Student Activity Council)
on it. And we lost. We shouldn't have lost. If it had
been a movie we wouldn't have lost, because damnit! we were the good guys!
This year SAC decided that their charity of choice
would be the Sunshine Foundation, a worthy cause, but when the staff of
the Eagle Spirit voted we decided to use our funds to support an underprivileged
child in a Third World country. And the funny part is we really expected
people to be happy about this. I mean, we're some kids who have lived
pretty materially rich lives. We're spoiled. That's what the
adults tell us anyway. In our naivete we figured that we would actually
be congratulated for our selfless efforts to fundraise for a less fortunate
child than oursleves. Initially SAC gave us the approval after we
presented them with paperwork outlining all of our plans. However
this paperwork was conveniently and suspiciously lost. We did get
to hold one fundraiser, during which another fundraiser by another organization
was held, despite our request (a long time beforehand) that our fundraiser
be uninterrupted.
Of course, we didn't know how lucky we were at that
point. The next fundraiser did not happen. We were completely
prepared for this particular fundraiser which Eagle Spirit had been hosting
for two years. Many hours of hard work had gone into preparing this
fundraiser, but within hours of its intended commencement it was suddenly
cancelled. Our fearless editor was called down to (surprise) the
principal's office where two members of SAC were already in discussion
with the principal. The editor was informed that SAC wanted to do the same
fundraiser as Eagle Spirit at the same time. Fortunately, the editor
was prepared for this. Afterall, what else could she expect from
SAC? The editor quickly pointed out that SAC had known about this
fundraiser for several months because she had gone to a SAC meeting and
given them verbal and written notice of her intentions, at which time no
objections had been raised. You'd think that would have convinced
the principal as to who was in the right.
Really, it is hardly surprising that SAC would sink
to such a petty attack of something that refused to conform to their ideas.
The undaunted editor argued that a) the fundraiser
belonged to Eagle Spirit (it had been a brainchild of a previous editor
and Eagle Spirit had been running it with much success for two years)
b) the editor still had documentation in her possession proving that SAC
had approved the fundrasier to Eagle Spirit (the documentation was provided
to the principal)
c) the fundraiser had already been completely prepared by student volunteers
d) the principal himself had seen part of the preparations and approved
them
e) the cause of a Third World child was worthy of attention
f) it was the choice of Eagle Spirit to raise money for whoever they chose
In spite of all this and SAC's inability to produce
any valid evidence to support their case, the fundraiser was annexed by
SAC at Mr.Kennedy's order. The formal reason for this was that confidentiality
was an issue. Members of Eagle Spirit countered that confidentiality
had never once been a problem in the past two years, but this point was
ignored. Prior to this, we thought that one of the better things
about our justice system (as opposed to say the justice system in China)
was that here you are generally innocent until proven guilty. Apparently
not at North Lambton.
The fundraiser was lost and the little child we
would have sponsored with the money is probably dead by now. Somehow
I'm not proud of my school.
The money which we raised in the name of World Vision
(in our first and only fundraiser) was handed over (unbeknownst to us)
to SAC to give to the Sunshine Foundation in the name of Eagle Spirit.
We are fairly certain that it is fraud to raise money with false pretences
and we're glad that we didn't have anything to do with that.