Local girl raises money for trip through sports
Kisha Gibbs raffling off sports memorabilia
By Matthew Neal
Argus Observer
Sunday, January 6, 2008 3:46 AM PST
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| From left: Kisha’s aunt Sandra Hess, K-Mart manager Greg McClean and Kisha’s mother Flora Gibbs stand over Kisha Gibbs and her collection of sports memorabilia at the Ontario K-Mart on Friday. Kisha’s raffle will be held at the Four Rivers Cultural Center on Jan. 31. The money generated from the raffle will go towards a school trip to Washington D.C. in the spring. |
Ontario - The trip of a lifetime may be more about the journey rather than the destination and for Ontario middle school eighth-grader Kisha Gibbs that journey includes some of life’s most challenging lessons.
This lesson began months ago at Brewsky’s Broiler while Kisha and he father had lunch and talked about ways to generate the $2,500 needed for her to go to Washington D.C. on a school trip.
Greg Anderson, Kisha’s teacher, has been leading students not only in the class room but across the United States for 14 years and part of what he teaches in the class is self-reliance and ingenuity: namely, how to go out and earn enough money to go on the trip.
“He sets the students up with money making ideas,” Kisha’s aunt, Sandra Hess said. “And Kisha is a real go-getter. She is doing everything she can to raise the money not only for herself but for others.”
So, as Kisha and her dad Charles sat there brainstorming ideas off of each other they came up with a novel idea to not only pay her way but perhaps to help others as well.
As it turns out, Kisha’s dad is involved with antiques and he has made connections with sports memorabilia dealers over the years. The idea came to them that they should try to get sports memorabilia from local athletic teams, then sell raffle tickets to generate the necessary money for the trip.
The idea took off like wild fire. Soon her collection of sports memorabilia encompassed sporting merchandise from the local community, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. Then it went even further and reached into the realm of professional sports.
Kisha and her father contacted the NFL and the NBA, and they were more than happy to help. Also, her father’s connections helped out in their quest to obtain the merchandise.
Her collection of items to be raffled off at the Four Rivers Cultural Center on Jan 31 include autographed team footballs from local teams, Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. The Gibbs family tried to get Boise State University involved but BSU had said they did not have the time. Calls to BSU athletic director Gene Bleymaier by the Argus Observer were not immediately returned.
Also included in the items to be raffled are autographed jerseys from Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and OJ Simpson.
Kisha also faced the additional challenge of finding a local business that was willing to allow her to ‘set up shop’ so to speak and market her memorabilia. The answer to this problem came from Ontario K-Mart manager Greg McClean. “Kisha’s Mom Flora called to get permission to set up a booth in the store and I said yes. She has been here every weekend and over the Christmas break,” McClean said.
“She has been working hard. On weekends she comes in about 10 and stays until five or six at night.”
Kisha’s hard working spirit has helped her generate almost enough money for the trip yet she still faces a $900 dollar shortfall.
“She learned the value of a dollar at a young age,” Kisha’s mom Flora said. Kisha has also been raising money by selling pies, cookies and beef jerky and broke the school record with on 191 pies sold.
“Some people are struggling and I’m struggling too to get the money together but whatever we make extra we will give to Mr. Alexander so he can give it to whoever needs it,” Kisha said.
Maybe the biggest lesson she has learned throughout this process is the lesson in community action.
“She is more interested in helping others than herself and hopes that all the kids can raise the money to go,” Hess said.
Kisha’s history teacher Greg Alexander said he encourages his students to go out on their own and find ways to make money for the trip. “They have an opportunity to make more than just the cost of the trip,” he said. “They will want some spending money as well.”
The trip focuses on American history and will include visits to Colonial Williamsburg, the Vietnam Memorial, Holocaust Memorial and also New York City.
Kisha has been looking forward to this trip since she was in the sixth grade. She said she is very excited to see historically significant places that she has learned about in class.
“The trip is all about seeing all these things and to find out that these things did happen and they are not just made up,” Kisha said.
Of course, without the community spirit of the City of Ontario Kisha’s challenge may have been even more daunting. Yet this bi-lingual honor student has persevered and will continue to try and reach her goal and with the help of the community she will no doubt get the opportunity to see some of the places in America that define the spirit of our culture. “I am thankful for the help of the community and my family,” Kisha said.
Kisha’s collection will be on display at the Ontario K-mart until the January 31 raffle.
The cost of a raffle ticket and the chance to win some great sports memorabilia is ten dollars: a small price to pay to help out the kids in the Ontario community, and ultimately, that is the greatest lesson of all.
