Mad for Plaid Gala Raises Dollars for Girls

Sammie Paris

Mad for Plaid is Notre Dame Academy’s biggest fundraiser event of the year, and everyone benefits from the proceedings.

This event has been ongoing for at least ten years and raises money for much of the NDA community, some of which being money for tuition assistance, building improvements, campus ministry and professional staff developments.

“Anything and everything that the school needs is being supported by this annual signature fundraiser,” Advancement Event Coordinator Mrs. Nikie Kunz said.

This event also honors the newest Hall of Fame inductees, those women who have graduated from NDA and shown the world their bold, brilliant, beautiful, and blessed qualities.

There are two categories for the Hall of Fame: the Service Leadership Award or the Professional Achievement Award. To be recognized with either of these honors, an NDA alumna must be nominated by someone who completes an application form describing why this alumna should be chosen for the award.

The recipients this year are Ms. Wendi Huntley ’83 for the Service Leadership Award and Ms. Ray’Chel Wilson ‘15 for the Professional Achievement Award.

Ms. Huntley never expected to receive this award, but she has shown she is deserving and dedicated to serve people.

She is the President of the Connecting Kids to Meals nonprofit ministry, which fights childhood hunger by providing hot meals to kids at no cost in lowincome areas in the community.

“I would tell a young woman today to dream big, to stay faithful, to do something that she’s passionate about. At the end of the day, it isn’t about money –you want to feel fulfilled in your soul,” Ms. Huntley said.

Ms. Wilson is a teacher extraordinaire, educating children about holistic financial wellness and closing the racial and gender wealth gaps. She also created Raise the Bar Investments, a company that provides young people of color with skills necessary to build generational wealth and will be Notre Dame Acade- my’s youngest alumnae ever to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

This event goes out to NDA’s entire database, meaning around 10,000 people, but only 250 can join the festive night.

This night includes cocktail hour, socializing, dinner, and silent auction.

The silent auction includes items such as parking spots and tickets to the fall musical, along with around 50 other various items.

Fundraising happens all night and as text messages go out, the Mad for Plaid barometer goes up; at the end of the night, the total amount raised will be revealed.

NDA has received around 40 sponsors for this night, with Designetics being the signature sponsor and agreeing to match $25,000 for this signature event.

The entire NDA community can get involved with this event, including the students who are vital components to making this event such a success. Students can receive service hours for attending Mad for Plaid and serving the guests.

NDA President Mrs. Kim Grilliot announced on WNDA that $200,000 had been raised at the gala.