By Molly Dunn
Contributor

Baylor students’ efforts have helped raise close to $7,000 for one Fredericksburg educational program enduring budget cuts — Stonewall Head Start.

Head Start is a national preschool program that accepts children from ages 3-5 from families who are below a certain income level.

Stonewall Head Start encompasses the facility in Stonewall and also the Fredericksburg facility.

Floyds Knobs, Ind., senior Trevor Allison made a documentary video and worked on a public service announcement to promote awareness for the chapter in Fredericksburg.

Allison said the Head Start program not only benefits the children enrolled in the school, but their families as well.

Head Start makes sure the children receive adequate education while also ensuring each family has good living conditions.

“Sometimes the Head Start program is such a high quality compared to other preschools that people will actually pay for their kid to go to Head Start,” Allison said.

“Head Start provides education …They have case workers who go check out the families; they provide dental care, health care and sometimes food for families.”

To create the documentary, Allison also worked with two professors in the journalism department: Curtis Callaway and Carol Perry.

Perry said Allison decided to work on this project because he has a passion for helping others and wants to use his talents in such a manner.

“We decided, we are journalism-PR, what can we do to help these people make this financial match with the government so that these kids can be served?” Perry said. “So Trevor, typical of Trevor, wants to make a difference — that’s who Trevor Allison is …he wants to do something that helps other people.”

Allison took on the task of creating a promotional video to help the organization, whose government funding has been cut by 25 percent.

“He went away and gave up his weekend,” Perry said. “It’s hard work; it’s a long day and a lot of pressure to get it just right. He edited the whole thing and that’s really where a lot of the work is and he really made it look fabulous.”

Carolyn Stewart, co-chairman of the “Empty Bowl” project, a fundraiser in Fredericksburg to raise money for Head Start, acknowledged Allison’s passion for this video and organization.

The Empty Bowl project was hosted by The Friends of Head Start on March 2.

“We’ve enjoyed working with Trevor so much,” Stewart said. “He had fresh eyes with everything he saw. He was in awe of the whole process.”

The fundraiser’s goal was to raise $10,000 for Stonewall Head Start.

With the help of Allison’s promotional video and the students’ other promotional efforts, the fundraiser brought in about $6,800 Friday night, and more money has continued to come in, Stewart said.

The promotional materials were sent to media contacts in Austin, Fredericksburg, San Antonio and Pflugerville, and Perry said people have taken notice.

“The PSA is already running and I understand that people in the Hill Country are really good at trying to help,” Perry said. “They really all get in the boat and row together. It’s amazing to see that.”