They say that nothing in life is free. Everything that you want has to be earned in some way, be it blood, sweat and tears.
And they�re right. Nothing in life is simply handed to you. In fact you have to work your butt off to get somewhere. Especially if you�re in the LDFA exchange.
Our exchange trip was expensive. The biggest costs were the plane tickets. Not to mention insurance. And what about side trips? Hotels? Gasoline? Food? Phone calls? Before we knew it, thousands of dollars were spent just on 2 months of travel, 12 students and 2 chaperones.
This money had to come from somewhere, which is where our hours of intense labor come in. Because, let�s face it, neither my parents nor I are millionaires and I�d rather they not declare bankruptcy before I enter college.
But back to the work. Much of the work took place during the 11 months between the exchanges and in La Crosse. Bill organized various different ways to get each student and their families involved in obtaining the necessary money.
Our biggest fundraising opportunity was the rummage sale. Every year the American students host what is known as La Crosse�s Biggest Rummage Sale. There is no definite beginning to this event since the rummage has been collected ever since the last sale ended. Toys, furniture, clothes, tape and other miscellaneous leftovers are boxed into banana boxes and left in a storage house until that fateful week in April.
Early Saturday morning the students and parents congregated at the storing facility to parade the items to the site of the sale (aka the garage at Franciscan Skemp Hospital). Some parents also rendezvous that Monday morning at UWL to pick up tables for the sale. That afternoon, the real work began. Each student and parents kicked in a few hours a day to set up the tables and adorn them with the treasure, freshly unloaded from their boxed homes. They set up these wares until Friday when the next drama unfurled.
On Friday and Saturday the actual sale took place. The students, parents, and family spread around the garage to aide the customers, and tidy up the tables after they left. But the real boss was Bill, and his black cowboy hat, who stood at the cashbox negotiating prices and accepting the money. Within hours cash flowed in as the store was depleted, proving that one man�s trash is indeed another�s treasure. After hours of working with interesting customers (who can forget Patty and her car?) the only tasks remaining were to clean up, return the tables and bring the left-over rummage to Goodwill so others could use it.
Overall the rummage sale was a lot of work. Each family member put in about 10-15 hours of work, often after long days at work and school. Yet the reward was amazing- about $4,000 was raised each year!
With the rummage sale behind the American students focused on their next task: the car wash. The car wash tied in another part of fundraising, namely the sale of raffle tickets. Each student was asked to sell 120 raffle tickets to raise at least $500 towards the trip to South Dakota. Beginning in December the students sold the tickets to their friends, relatives, and neighbors. The raffle ticket included a stub, used in the drawing of fabulous prizes like a week stay in the Dominican Republic and a handcrafted quilt, and a coupon for one car to get washed in the carwash. Held on a sunny Saturday morning in May the students and parents gathered at Wal-Mart in La Crosse with hopes of dirty cars. Despite a slow start, cars slowly approached and their owners gratefully gave to the cause. The car wash only raised a few hundred dollars; yet it gave the students something to do and a chance to socialize and work on a tan.
But the Americans couldn�t contain all the fun of raising money to themselves. While the Russian guests were visiting they helped participate in the garbage collecting at Riverfest. Riverfest, being one of La Crosse�s biggest summer festivals and around the Fourth of July, attracts many people and therefore much garbage. The sun, heat, and general lack of shade proved to be no match for the students as they toiled hard to collect every scrap and plastic souvenir off the ground. Thankfully there was a nearby soda machine and Pearl�s for the occasional refreshment. Since Riverfest featured a variety of artists the students took frequent breaks to enjoy the music, water skiers, and clowns. The rewards of this work extended beyond the free camaraderie, drinks, and entertainment: the money raised was substantial to cover a huge chunk of the costs.
While earning money for one�s own trip is marvelous, there are often others in greater need that can use some TLC. We were each blessed to have parents who can afford to ship their child across the world for a month. Yet there are other families in the La Crosse area who have to make a crucial choice between paying for food or rent. For them a trip overseas would seem impossible. Fortunately, there are organizations to help make life easier and more manageable for the less fortunate. A well-known non-profit organization is the Salvation Army, which provides shelter, food, clothes, job opportunities and other aid for the needy. This was where most of the students and Ljudmila found themselves helping out one day. They were assigned various tasks, including stocking shelves with food, washing walls, serving meals, and assembling art kits for younger children. Initially none of the Russian students and few of the American students knew much about community service. Through the course of the day they saw the faces of poverty and heard of the missions and achievements of the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army hopes that all of the students left with fond memories and a commitment to continue helping others.
In the beginning of the exchange program we were given few resources. Yet our combined labor and skills made raising thousands of dollars for the trips possible. The American students quickly learned the worth of their hard labor. Standing in the Red Square and facing Mount Rushmore they felt gratified that their own work had gotten them there, and inspired to work hard towards other such goals. Their blood, sweat, and tears might not be as large as those of the felons slaughtered on the Red Square or squandered in carving stone, yet they are bigger than those of their television-loving friends back in the Mississippi Valley area.
Thanks to the laborers who deserve all of the credit; Bill Trussoni, Ljudmila Leonova, the Beeson family, the Otto family, the DeVetter family, the Klug family, the Lichtie family, the Jedele family, Masha, Pasha, Alina, and Danil.

Barbara Jedele