On Graduation night, all across America, high schoolers party.  When these parties are unsupervised they tend to have alcohol involved. Due to this, there is usually a spike in drunk-driving accidents.  According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, one in three teenagers who die in alcohol related incidents do so during prom or graduation season.  Thus Project Graduation was born.

Project Graduation is an organization active in high schools nationwide, Dreyfoos being one of them.  Think of it as an adult-run club. The group members, being adults, fundraise and plan a big party graduation night, free of alcoholic beverages. A staple of Project Graduation is that attendance is free, but party-planning is an expensive game, which is why fundraising is so essential to the party’s success.

“We have divided the Project Graduation fundraising between three senior moms,”  communications senior Zachary Stoloff’s mother Stephanie Stoloff said. “Mrs. Hostetler runs Dreyfoos Depot, Mrs. Mischler runs the Snack Shack, and I am responsible for the online auction and all other fundraisers. All of us contribute a significant amount of our time to raise money for Project Graduation.”

The fundraising is definitely difficult; this year the party will take place at Boomer’s, and an event there can cost anywhere from $50,000 to $60,000 dollars.  To fundraise this money, parents have to put in a lot of work.

“To raise this kind of money, parents work the concessions at concerts, sell merchandise in Dreyfoos Depot, and sell food after school in the Snack Shack.  We also raised money at a shopping and dining event, and the Palm Beach Outlets gave us all the coins from their fountains,”  Mrs. Stoloff said. “We are about to have a huge online auction starting on Feb. 25 through March 4. Our final fundraiser will be at CycleBar on March 16.  Of course, we have received, and are still accepting, monetary donations as well.”

Only mothers of current seniors can participate in Project Graduation. This is Mrs. Stoloff’s second year as a chairman because she served as chairman when her daughter graduated from Dreyfoos in 2015.  

While the event is difficult to plan for it is still very rewarding.

“I volunteered to chair this event because I know how important this event is to keep everyone safe on the night of graduation. I also have a lot of fun working with the other moms and dads.  Some of my best friends are the moms I worked with in 2015.” Mrs. Stoloff said.