Robert Freeman, an economics teacher at Los Altos High School, saw the need to help more unprivileged countries, like Nicaragua. He began One Dollar For Life to help those countries by collecting just one dollar from high school students to assist the poor in those countries.
Starting the week of Feb. 7, colorful boxes made by the Saratoga Youth Commission were put them in every classroom to raise money to help build a school in Nicaragua. They are hoping to raise at least $500 to give to One Dollar For Life.

“The organization was started by a Los Altos High School teacher and a few of his students with the intention of allowing high school students across the country to make a difference in the world,” sophomore Sierra Smith said. “They aim to help children in Third World countries by collecting just one dollar from high school students across the United States.”

The commission first began working on the event in early November when Freeman visited the commission and asked if they would try fundraising at SHS.

“Freeman] gave us background on the organization and asked if we would help the people in Nicaragua,” Smith said. “The Youth Commission voted and it was decided to move forward on the fundraiser.”

The commission began preparing for the event, and a small group in the commission began making the boxes, which were individually wrapped with a pamphlet attached, that were placed in the classrooms.

“The boxes were decorated over a period of about a week,” Smith said. “A small committee, including freshman Jane Chang and myself, worked on them for a few hours at a time every day. We wanted to make them stand out in a classroom and get the message across.”

Although the commission planned for the event to just be the week before February break, it wishes to hold the fundraising event again after putting in “too much effort to only do it for such a short period of time,” according to Smith.

The Youth Commission worked hard on the event and received about $130 after the first week of fundraising. Even though their goal was not reached after that week, the commission wishes to help One Dollar For Life raise enough money to help build a school in Nicaragua, said Smith.