Bagel sales. Garden tours. Car wash tickets. Throughout Grosse Pointe South, different student-run groups fundraise in their own way.

With over 50 unique, active school clubs, and an innumerable amount of sports teams, raising money is a key part of the school atmosphere, according to Maria Mitzel, the student activities coordinator.

“Club fundraise in different ways,” Mitzel said. “The class councils and Student Associations big fundraiser are our dances. Some of the class councils offer a babysitting service over the holiday for parents. We have wreath sales, we have bake sales, and we do car washes. All of this appeals to the student body.”

Many athletic teams partake in car washes to make money for their sport. One of the captains for South’s swim team, Sarah McCabe ’18, said that her team continues to wash cars out of tradition.

“We just had a car wash a few weeks ago,” McCabe said. “That raises money for our field trip to Chicago, where we have a meet against 3 really good teams. I think we raised about $200 during the fundraiser.”

According to McCabe, setting up and executing the car wash was a lot of work. However, she does recommend this process to other groups who are looking to raise money, as it seems to get a lot of support from the neighborhood.

“I think everybody likes to go get their car washed,” Mitzel said. “Whether you go through a traditional car wash or you let some of our students do it for you. It gives the community an opportunity to help the school and its students out.”

Some clubs, on the other hand, don’t find fundraising necessary. Editor in Chief of Grosse Pointe South’s yearbook, Lee Jackson ’19,  said that her club doesn’t need to raise money. They utilize their resources; the club uses school computers, and they bring in their own cameras.

“We really don’t need to fundraise too much,” Jackson said. “Students pay for the yearbooks, it’s $75, and that money goes into making the books. We also get food, but that’s funded by the administration. They give us money to feed us because we’re doing a service for the school.”

As a whole, South has countless different activities to offer and there is something for everyone, according to Mitzel. These groups rely on the money that they raise themselves to carry out any of their plans.

“We have a great group of teachers that volunteer time to help support these clubs, and we have students who are dedicated to these clubs,” Mitzel said. “It’s what makes Grosse Pointe South so unique.”