Cool story, bro, but before I get into it, yes, Plainfield High School (NJ) is receiving the $1,000 award for their school paper. That has not changed.
The paper I was looking at actually belonged to Plainfield High School in Central Illinois (they have a pretty good student paper, though).
I ended up figuring it out by watching one of their videos – not one of the people on there had a Jersey accent, no one was angry about their commute and there wasn’t a single story that involved corruption. I knew something wasn’t right.
Anyway, I reached out to our Plainfield School district, and they confirmed they do have a paper connected to their Arts and Science Academy. The donation may go there, or they might use it to start a newsroom at another school.
I tried to find a way to blame this on Shauna or Laura, but I could not make that work.
Once I get an update, I will let everyone know. Just to be clear, the money is going to Plainfield in New Jersey for a newsroom. The check was cut this morning.
Fundraising Breakdown
In our 2-week fundraising campaign, we raised $2,125. Here’s how your contributions were used:
- Plainfield High School (Donation) — $1,000 (47%)
- IRS Reimbursement (501 Application) — $600 (28%)
- Bluehost (Hosting) — $306 (14%)
- Wordfence (Security) — $134 (6%)
Total Spent: $2,040
Nearly half of all funds went directly to supporting a high school newsroom. The remainder covered our IRS designation and essential operational costs that keep NJ21st running and secure.
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