This past week students and staff at Portage High School were very photogenic. You would think that with Prom season approaching quickly, this would be the reason. If you that prom was the reason, you would be wrong. Wednesday through Friday students were busy raising awareness as well as money for Jacobs Ladder. Jacobs Ladder is a pediatric rehabilitation center in Porter County for mostly children with Downs Syndrome. This event was ran by a committee of students who come from various backgrounds and grades. Andrew Bauer who is a Junior at Portage is the chairperson and founder of the committee. According to him, the idea for the fundraising was brought up to him by Director of Student Services Tim Kunstek in September and the students just took over from there. This fundraiser for Jacobs Ladder was not the first that this young group of philanthropists has pulled off. In October $75 was raised for the Northwest Indiana Food Bank as well as 56 pounds of food. The main event for both the October and the March fundraiser was “Pictures with Prince”. Prince is the Portage Township Schools compassionate canine. Tim Kunstek who is also the handler for Prince was given the canine through Lutheran Church Charities and Holy Cross Lutheran Church. In total $68 was raised as of Tuesday night, with money being raised until 2:30pm on Thursday. Any community members who are interested in donating can contact Kunstek at 764-6061 or tkunstek@portage.k12.in.us as well as Andrew Bauer at 973-1186 or andrew.phsfwpc@live.com.
