AnnualReport2021

MS. SUTHERD’S SOCIAL MEDIA CHALLENGE TO HER STUDENTS Ms. Sutherd, as she's known on TikTok, is a fourth grade teacher in Northern California who had a fun idea for a learning opportunity for her students. After her social media account gained some traction, she used her popularity to challenge celebrities to give shout- outs to her students. Actor Jack Black accepted her offer, and within 24 hours, Ms. Sutherd had more than 1 million TikTok followers. Ms. Sutherd decided to use this attention for good and came up with a new challenge to raise money for charity. "All of these people are giving so much positivity to you, that it's important we give that back to the world," Sutherd told her students. After some research, the class decided that they wanted Shriners Hospitals for Children — Northern California as their beneficiary. The initial fundraising goal was quickly met through a $1,000 donation by celebrity skateboarder Tony Hawk. The class increased their goal to $10,000, and as donations from around the world started pouring in, they set the final fundraising goal of $50,000. Ms. Sutherd promised her class that if the goal was met the students could slime her. Illustrious Sir Jonathan Duley, Past Potentate of Saladin Shriners in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and an elementary school principal, learned about the challenge on social media. When he

PROUD SUPPORTER EVENTS

saw that the class was short of their $50,000 goal, he and the officers of Saladin decided to step in and help. On a Zoom call in late January, he presented Ms. Sutherd and her students with a $20,230 check that helped them meet their goal. "In a year of constant hurt, darkness and despair, Ms. Sutherd and her fourth grade class shined brightly for our kids in our hospitals," said Duley. "Saladin Shriners are unbelievably proud to be part of this story, and we look forward to joining with Ms. Sutherd and her class again soon to support Shriners Hospitals for Children." The goal was achieved, and the sliming took place at the elementary school on Feb. 26. Attendees included students and staff from the school, Northern California hospital staff, Jonathan Duley, Past Potentate of Saladin Shriners, Bill Wells, Potentate of Ben Ali Shriners, and even Fezzy made an appearance.

Proud Supporter fundraising events are a large part of raising awareness and funds for Shriners Hospitals for Children in communities across the country. However, in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to re-evaluate the current program through new lenses of safety measures, state and city guidelines and social distancing. The Proud Supporter team quickly pivoted to encourage community fundraisers to move their events online. Event requests continued to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and those that could easily be moved online were. The event leaders worked with the digital fundraising team to make their events pop as if they were in-person. By the end of 2020, 175 Proud Supporter events had been approved. In addition, peer-to-peer online fundraising raised $425,726 through 273 individual fundraising pages. Companies like Energy Battery Group, Exploria Resorts and Texas Self Storage Association moved their in-person and employee fundraising events to online experiences. The virtual move created more awareness among employees and their communities resulting in increased support for Shriners Hospitals for Children.

2020-2021 YEAR IN REVIEW

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