Hoping to raise money to attend a statewide conference in San Diego, members of SCHS’s DECA Club have been holding a week-long fundraiser at various local restaurants and stores.  

Through the fundraiser, when members of the school community frequent the businesses at specified times, the businesses donate part of their proceeds to the club, which promotes student entrepreneurship.  

“Dine with DECA Week” was put together by DECA’s vice president, junior Zainub Sheikh. She called various restaurants, and worked out details such as what time the restaurants were available.

The idea for this event was inspired by a similar event DECA’s club president Aya Abdelhadi noticed, called “DECA Week”, at Washington High School. Like “Dine with DECA Week”, they had a different restaurant fundraiser for each day of the week.

Club advisor Dave Smedley is hopeful for the fundraiser to go well.

“What’s great about it, is that it gives everyone different types of food to choose from,” Smedley said. “We’re trying to address the largest audience we possibly can.”

The proceeds will help SCHS’s DECA club cover the costs of competing in a state conference at San Diego in March. The registration, hotel, and other fees are divided between every four members, so each member has to pay $200.

At the state conference in San Diego, DECA students would participate in competitions, workshops, state officer campaigns, and other opportunities.  And they would have a shot at qualifying for the international DECA competition in Nashville, Tenn.

For each day of “Dine with DECA” this week, the fundraiser was set at a different restaurant or establishment for a specific time. Thursday’s fundraiser will be at Pizza Chicago (11am – 10pm); and Friday is Togo’s (orders will be taken in room B202) & Pinkberry (2 – 8pm).  Some restaurants will require flyers.

The club will receive a percentage out of each customer’s purchase, the largest being 30 percent, and the lowest being 15 percent.

“DECA worked really hard to put this together, so please come join us,” Abdelhadi said.