With just soap and wet rags, the volleyball team’s carwash not only raised $5,300 for their upcoming season, but also doubled as an opportunity for team bonding. 

Jennifer Anderson-Winward, a parent organizer for the fundraiser, said the event is very important to the team as it is their main source of funding. 

“This is a huge fundraiser for us, the volleyball program really needs it. They use it for equipment and paying all the coaches. Anything the program needs, we try to fill in that monetary gap,” Anderson-Winward said.

According to freshman Anna Hodges, selling tickets is a key contributor to the carwash.

“Everyone had to sell 10 tickets,” Hodges said. “One of our captains practices (was) selling tickets and lots of people went around (selling) to their neighbors.”

According to Anderson-Winward, a lot of effort is put in before the fundraiser in order for everything to run smoothly.

“My husband prints out the tickets, gives them to Whitney (the coach) who gives them to the kids,” Anderson-Winward said. “Then the kids go out and sell them.”

According to senior and captain Makaila Winward, the advertising for the fundraiser was displayed on various online platforms.

“We put a lot of stuff on social media, especially through the St. Louis Park (volleyball) Instagram and Twitter,” Winward said.

Winward said the carwash allowed the teams to spend time together considering each team practices in separate spaces during the season. 

“It’s a really good chance for our whole program to get to know each other. Practices are in different gyms (and) now we’re all together doing the same thing,” Winward said. 

Anderson-Winward said the carwash is a great way for the girls to work as a team while also raising money for the program. 

“It gets all the girls involved. It builds comradery because they have to go out and sell tickets during captains practices. It’s a good way to bring in money and have all the girls work together on a project,” Anderson-Winward said.

The next varsity game will be 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School.