It’s April, so it must be Welches Wildcat Coffee month.

Nine years ago, Cheryl Gundersen came to Mt. Hood Roasters Company and
proposed a coffee fundraiser for the Welches elementary and middle schools.
Roasters proprietor Rick Applegate embraced the idea and the fundraiser was
born.

Over the years more than $25,000 have been raised for the local schools by
the community purchasing Wildcat coffee from the school children.

“This year we hope to bring that number to the $30,000 plateau,” Applegate
wrote in an email to The Mountain Times. “To do this we need to sell 1,000
bags of coffee that will earn the school $4,500. If they meet that goal, Mt.
Hood Roasters will donate an additional $500 to make the grand total
$5,000.”

Sales incentives for the students are focused on community activities. Every
child that sells one bag of coffee gets a prize, and the bounty increases with
bigger sales. Prizes include hot chocolate and latte from Roasters, ice cream
from Rhododendron Dairy Queen or Sandy Baskin Robbins, passes to
Wippersnappers Kids Play Place, tickets to Mt. Hood Theater, all the way to a
one-year family pass to the Oregon Zoo or OMSI. (A full list of prizes appears
in the Mt. Hood Roasters ad on Page 32.)

“The fundraiser leaves the proceeds here in the community by raising money
for the school, buying incentives from local companies, and creates work for
local employees who manufacture and package the products,” Applegate

wrote. “(And) finally, it is a quality product that is custom packaged for the
school.”

Residents are urged to contact a Welches student to make the goal a reality
and provide funding for needed school resources. This year the fundraiser is
focusing on purchasing more computers for the classrooms.