When 13-year-old Jessica Funk-Haslam was buried on March 17, her family didn't have to spend a dime.
The sports fundraising group for , were Jessica would have been a student next year, raised about $7,500 and donated more than $3,700 to pay for burial and food costs.
"It did take the whole community to pull this together," Rosemont Athletics Boosters President Nancy Goodie said.
It could be considered quite a feat for the organization, which is only in its second year and has five board members responsible for fundraising for 17 sports, but Goodie said the boosters played only a small role, donating funds raised at a Kings game.
Other donations came from local businesses like and , and from donation jars left around the area at schools and businesses.
Tracy Ramirez, a Rosemont Athletics Boosters board member, said Celia's was packed on the night it donated 30 percent of proceeds to Jessica's family.
"We were running around busing tables," Ramirez said.
Rosemont High School Athletic Director Bill Kapp said he was touched to see the donations and outpouring of support.
"I think it says that everyone in this community is here to support each other," Kapp said. "In light of what happened, you have to look at what happened and [think], 'What can we do to help heal from this?' "
The boosters club hopes to use the rest of the money it raised for a pair of memorial scholarships for each year that Jessica would have attended Rosemont High School, and for a tree and bench on the campus of Albert Einstein Middle School. The club also plans to purchase flowers for Einstein's graduation ceremony, and make a donation to the .
Club has raised large sums for sports
The booster club is a group that has proven to be a powerful fundraiser in its first two years of existence: last year it earned $40,000 and this year has already raised $60,000 for Wolverine sports.
But there have been hurdles: So few Rosemont parents show up to work concession stands at Kings and River Cats games that the athletics boosters often have to ask groups from other schools to help. When they do, those schools also earn money from the night's work.
"Our biggest problem is communication," Goodie said.
Goodie started out only raising money for baseball, and said she was handed a checking account with a balance of $23.32; the team now has $6,000 banked. She said she hopes Rosemont Athletics Boosters will be able to build a fundraising program that will survive many years and changes in parent-leadership.
Ramirez said she hopes more parents will participate in the future, noting that working events with the athletics boosters has built camaraderie between the parents of various sports.
"We enable it so every single sport has an avenue to raise money," she said.
Full list of donors in memory of Jessica Funk-Haslam
"Rosemont Athletic Booster Club organized a fundraiser with the help and support of the following businesses and schools:"
- Rosemont High School PTSA
- Albert Einstein PTSA
- OW Erlewine
- Hubert Bancroft
- Synergy Brokerage, Inc
- Furtado Consulting, Inc
- Dan Clark, Investor
- Cabo’s Mexican Restaurant
- on Folsom and La Riviera
- Smoke Shack
- Levee Restaurants/Sacramento Kings
Correction: A previous version of this list failed to include Sequoia Elementary School. Principal Cindy Hollander said that school contributed more than $350. Rosemont Patch regrets the omission.
