CAPE ELIZABETH — The high school National Honor Society raised nearly $2,500 to donate to Sustainable Harvest International this year.

The students are advised by Ginger Raspiller, the Achievement Center coordinator. She said each year the students brainstorm a list of potential charities and research the top five or six candidates more thoroughly.

Then, the group votes on which one to support. In the past, money has been raised for Make A Wish Foundation and Kayanet Orphanage in Eldoret Kenya.

This year, the honor society chose Sustainable Harvest International.

SHI is a non-profit organization that provides families in Central America with the training and tools to preserve tropical forests while overcoming poverty. The organization has been active since 1997, helping to provide farmers with sustainable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture. What started as a Peace Corps volunteer experience for SHI founder Florence Reed, turned into programs in Honduras, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua. 

Raspiller said the students chose SHI as the sole recipient of their fundraising efforts because of the nonprofit group’s work in environmental sustainability.

Cape students raised funds by holding bake sales, candy cane-gram sales, a semi-formal dance, a student-versus-faculty basketball game, a night of galactic bowling, and a “Night of Sustainability.”

Raspiller said John Metz, one of the six members of the National Honor Society’s Executive Committee, suggested SHI as a financial recipient. He visited the SHI headquarters in Belize with his family, and saw the programs and benefits to families first hand.

The students presented the check for nearly $2,500 to SHI major gift’s coordinator, Randy Morrison, in May.

Amy Anderson can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 110 or aanderson@theforecaster.net