ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Those looking to get some nice photos taken while supporting a local student will soon have just that chance.
The Liberal High School Angry Red News staff will be hosting a fall minis photography sessions fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the LHS East Campus commons area. Cost is $20 (cash only) per session, which includes five to 10 edited images, and all proceeds will be going to an LHS student currently battling cancer. The fundraiser is open to the entire community.
Angry Red News staff members Alannah Thomas and Evelyn Sandoval and advisor Brent Lansden said the idea for the fundraiser came together rather quickly.
“We've been talking about it since last month, we started talking about it shortly after we found out from Mr. Lansden there was a student who's dealing with cancer and needed some help,” Thomas said. “We don't know this student personally, but there are times when people need help, and it's not a bad thing to ask for help when it's needed. I think it's a beautiful thing we're doing, and I think it's amazing how we're able to spread so much love throughout the community.”
“We all agreed we would get this student's permission first, because we didn't want to do it without their say-so, but our main thought was we wanted to help,” Sandoval added. “We did run into a slight obstacle when it came to figuring out the date, since the holidays are coming up, but we were all super driven to help this student, so we made it happen. Everything was ultimately agreed upon, and we were happy with how everything came together.”
“And the outreach from people in the community has already been amazing, we've had a lot of people talking to us about this. Edlin Higgins, who's a local photographer, offered to help, and she's even going to visit the class next week and that's when we'll figure out backgrounds and all of those details,” Lansden said. “My students are amazing people – they're great at putting the newspaper together, and they're also good people for wanting to do this, so I'm blessed to have them all in my class. I'm a photographer myself, and have been for multiple decades now, and Evelyn and Alannah have been great photographers for the paper this year so far and have stepped up a lot. That was one of the ideas that had been kicked around at the beginning of our discussions of how we could help this student and after everything, that's what we ultimately decided to go with.”
Thomas and Lansden said they are excited to see how the day ends up.
“I'm excited to see how all of the photos turn out, and I'm excited to see how the community reacts to our work. I'm also excited to see how much money we raise to help this student – every student deserves the world, and every student deserves to have the same opportunities as everyone else,” Thomas said. “It's truly a beautiful thing how we're able to do something like this to help a fellow student, and I'm ready to see how much we're able to help them. The photos will be absolutely beautiful, but the main goal is to provide some help to this student who's going through a big struggle right now.”
“And this truly is open to everyone – if you want to bring your family and do a family shot, we will do that, or if you want something special of just your children, we'll do that,” Lansden said. “Whatever you have in mind, we'll make it happen.”
“And the response we've already gotten just shows us how much love there is in the community and how much everyone is willing to help,” Sandoval added. “People need help sometimes but don't ask for it either because they're embarrassed or scared or proud, but if you ask for help, people in this community are willing to step up. This shows that, and I think that's amazing.”
Overall, the Angry Red News staff said they hope to see a lot of support for the fundraiser.
“If someone wants to make a monetary donation, they can get in touch with me at the school at (620) 604-1200 and I'll be happy to set something up with that. This is our first major endeavor as a group for this year, so there are some nerves but also excitement about how everything will ultimately go that day,” Lansden said. “But we're ready to jump in with both feet and do the best we can and raise as much money as possible for this student.”
“Anyone looking for anything else is more than welcome to follow our social media pages, we'll be posting quite a bit on there,” Thomas said. “We definitely won't be quiet about this, and we definitely want to get as much help as possible.”
