As the weather turns colder and the leaves start to change, people start looking for activities to get in the fall spirit, like visiting an apple orchard, a pumpkin patch, or a fall-themed festival.

FCHS’s Interact Club offered one such event when it hosted a Jack O’ Lantern Jamboree on Oct. 14 from 4 pm to 9 pm at the high school. The Jamboree featured ring toss games, costume contests, limbo, and a student-run Trunk or Treat and competition for the best-decorated trunk.

Due to rainy weather, the Trunk or Treat and the competition had to move inside and required that students convert their trunks to tables at the last minute. Despite this setback, winners were chosen, with the best-decorated tables going to Annelise Fierro-Ramirez for first place, McKinley Thomas for second, and Piper LaRochelle for third.

The admission price was by donation, with all money raised going to the non-profit organization Rise Against Hunger. Interact raised over $600 through the event directly and, with help from their sponsors, over $1,000 total to donate to Rise Against Hunger.

Rise Against Hunger is dedicated to ending hunger across the world by empowering communities. They use the money raised by events such as the Jack O’ Lantern Jamboree to send food and other aid to communities struggling with malnutrition. Every other year, FCHS’s Interact Club participates in a Rise Against Hunger Fundraiser and partners with FUMA’s Interact Club to package meals for those in need. These meals go directly to thousands of households that are impacted by food insecurity.

The idea of the Jack O’ Lantern Jamboree came from senior Krista Donahue and her aunt, Amy Meyers. Donahue says she was “searching for an event that could draw in the public, be fun, and generate large funding for Rise Against Hunger. We typically participate in many bake sales, but I wanted to try something new.”

With the rest of the board of Interact Club (seniors Sarah Beth Robinson, Isaiah Bradley, Taneya Jackson, and Ariana Nolte), Donahue came up with the idea of a Halloween-themed event that could fulfill all these requirements. After the event, she said she is pleased with the turnout to the Jamboree.

“For the first time planning and having this event, we had a great turnout,” said Donahue. “[More people showed up] than I expected by far,” she added. Donahue plans to pass on her plans to the next generation of Interact board members so that they can continue to hold the event and “make it better than it was this year,” she said. She also noted that she is proud of the response from the community.

Meanwhile, a representative from the Fluvanna Rotary Club praised Donahue and the Interact Club for their idea and stated that they “can’t wait for it to happen again next year since it was such a great success so early on.”

Interact Club is always welcoming new members. To join, sign up whenever you can for club time and meet with the club in Interact Adviser Carolynne Hagan’s room, 3502, during 2nd period and 4th period meeting times. Interact members come up with unique fundraising ideas and help make a difference in the community. They hold events such as canned food drives, bake sales, and donation drives to benefit local charities including the Fluvanna SPCA, MACAA food bank, and other similar organizations.

To learn more about Interact or to see what you can do to help, email [email protected] or [email protected]. You can also visit Rise Against Hunger to donate to that charity.