Family Fun Pizza Night brings in $2,389

Walker, MN  –  The Family Safety Network and the Village Square once again partnered with each other last Thursday night to host the Family Fun Pizza Night.

The event is part of the 27th Annual Radiothon to End Child Abuse, an event of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting that raises money and awareness of child abuse and local resources available to the community.  The funds go to help end child abuse and neglect in Minnesota and for local counties of Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater and Hubbard.  These include the Leech Lake Reservation Children’s Initiative and the Family Safety Network.

The Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Student Council also held a Change for Child Abuse fundraiser leading up to the Radiothon.  The seventh- through 12th-grade classes donated $764.39, with the senior class winning the class competition with $440.

“We thought this would be a great cause and to get the students to realize what change they can make by giving a few cents,” said Maizee Freeman of the WHA Student Council.  “I was blown away by how successful it was.  We didn’t know how it was going to go over, but we were going to try.”

Shelby Short, another student council member, said they started collecting the change back in November, and will do this again next year.

Both Freeman and Short attended the Family Pizza Night so they could pass along the money raised by the senior high classes.

There are about 40 students part of student council with teacher Paul Schroeder serving as the advisor.

Hayford Racing of Walker, a cross-country snowmobile racing team, is purchasing all the pizzas for the senior class, which were brought up to the school Monday for lunch.

The Pizza Night brought in $1,624.61 for a total of $2,389.39.  A total of $37,000 was raised during this year’s Radiothon to fight child abuse.

The Walker event featured celebrity waiters from the Cass County Sheriff Office, including Sheriff Tom Burch and some deputies, and the administration of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley School.

Village Square owners Gary and Theresa Bilben donated a $1 for every pizza ordered that evening along with all tips the celebrity wait staff collected.

All proceeds from Pizza Night and WHA School fundraiser directly benefit communities, as the funds stay local and help support the Family Safety Network programming and services.

Pledges were also collected throughout the 24-hour period, and a live, on-air auction was held.

Since the Radiothon started 1989, nearly $1,050,000 has been raised since the Radiothon began.