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03/20/2024 08:30 AMGuilford High School (GHS) Project Graduation Co-chair Sue Kruczek is helping to rally fundraising efforts so that the GHS Class of 2024 can celebrate its graduation together with a memorable, substance-free event that will keep them safe on graduation night, Thursday, June 13.
This year’s Project Graduation celebration at the Chelsea Piers in Stamford will include a host of fun activities, entertainment, food, and giveaways for all attending members of the GHS Class of 2024. Free bus transportation is also provided for the night-into-morning event.
Project Graduation relies on community support and the generosity of businesses, individuals, and organizations to help fund the big party. The all-volunteer, parent-powered group has come up with several creative ways to help raise funds to reach its $34,000 goal.
On Friday, April 19, Project Graduation invites supporters (ages 18 and over) to come out to play bingo with members of Connecticut’s drag queen royalty, the Darling Divas, at the Guilford Community Center. The Darling Divas will provide 13 performances during the night’s 10 bingo games, which will feature awesome prizes. Tickets, at $30, are available at go.rallyup.com/ghs-project-grad-bingo. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., and the games begin at 6:30 p.m. Guests can bring their own non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.
“It’s going to be a really fun night, so we’re hoping to see a lot of people come out to enjoy it and support Project Graduation,” says Sue.
Community members can also help Project Graduation reach its fundraising goal by purchasing and displaying GHS Class of 2024 graduation yard signs, which can be ordered now at go.rallyup.com/ghsgradsign24. Another way to assist is to invite Project Graduation volunteers to shepherd a small flock of pink, plastic flamingos to a Guilford lawn or business through the Flock A Friend fundraiser. Flocks can be ordered now at go.rallyup.com/ghsflock24.
“Everybody and anybody can order a flock, and our volunteers will also leave a little note from you to the person that’s been flocked. It’s a really fun thing to do,” says Sue.
Additionally, there’s still time for businesses and organizations to respond to Project Graduation’s annual appeal via the mail.
“We are so grateful for those who have already responded and continue to support Project Graduation, and we also want to let the businesses know there’s still time to get their donation in, whether they do it online or just use the envelope we provided in the mailing,” says Sue. “We really rely on those monetary funds to come through to make this successful.”
Each year, one of the most important goals of this program is to provide a celebratory spirit for both fundraising and the Project Graduation party itself. However, that is not the only goal. It is also paramount for the program to provide a safe and substance-free environment.
This is a message that feels very familiar to Sue. In 2013, Sue's oldest son Nick, a high school ice hockey standout, lost his life due to an opiate overdose. The tragedy vaulted Sue into supporting opioid prevention and awareness. Through her many efforts over several years, Sue went on to become one of the state’s top advocates.
“I worked hard, speaking at forums and going with the district attorney’s offices into the schools educating the children and at night educating the parents and raising awareness,” says Sue. “I talked about how Nick’s addiction started, how easily this kind of thing can happen.”
Sue’s volunteer efforts to bring awareness and attention to this issue led into her working with state legislators to help pass legislation that includes a seven-day cap on first-time opioid prescriptions, along with ensuring utilization of the prescription monitoring system and requiring first responders to carry the emergency narcotic overdose treatment commonly known as Narcan. Sue was often tapped to speak about the issue on television news. This work helped the epidemic become recognized on a national level.
“I was happy to do what I could to help, knowing that if I was saving one child’s life or one parent from with living with the hell that a family experiences, it was worth it,” says Sue.
Just a couple of years ago, Sue made the hard decision to wind down her public involvement in these efforts in order to focus on her family and help out in her community.
“There a lot of people who are wanting to talk and tell their stories. I decided to let them have a turn and let me be able to focus on going home after work and focus on my family and what I have here,” says Sue.
As a result, Sue is putting her considerable energy into co-chairing Project Graduation this year. Her youngest child Teagan is part of the GHS Class of 2024. The Kruczek’s daughter Haley graduated from GHS with the Class of 2020. Sue’s husband, Kyle Kruczek, is a Guilford native who not only graduated from GHS in Class of 1988, but also teaches math at the high school.
“With Teagan being a senior, this was kind of my last chance to really get involved and, obviously, it’s very important to me because all of the effort and monies raised provide a safe and sober environment for all the graduates,” says Sue. “That’s why it was really important for me to step up as a co-chair and it give it my all to help provide a spectacular night for these kids.”
Sue feels especially grateful to be working with such a dedicated group of parents who are pulling together to put on this year’s Project Graduation, beginning with her amazing fellow co-chair, Kim Mastriano-Guile.
Kim nominated Sue to be recognized as a Person of the Week for her efforts, noting “...as Sue's co-chair, I have seen her dedication and hard work over the last few months as we have been planning for the event, and would love to see her recognized in the community for her efforts.”
Many Project Graduation volunteer parents work full-time, including Sue.
“Working 40 hours a week and supporting Project Graduation as a volunteer at the same time is a lot, but we all feel so strongly about this, and we know it’s worth the effort,” says Sue.
While senior parents do a lot of the heavy lifting to assist with fundraising and planning, parents of freshmen through juniors provide most of the volunteer manpower during the Project Graduation party, including chaperoning. Volunteers are needed.
“Right now, we also really need a parent of an underclassman—usually, it’s the parent of a junior—to step up as the volunteer coordinator of the parents who will be helping out at Chelsea Piers on graduation night,” says Sue.
Parents interested in helping with Project Graduation’s social media are also needed. Sue welcomes interested parents to email her at alohakruczek@att.net to learn more.
Sue hopes that news of Project Graduation’s fundraising efforts, coupled with the group’s efforts to gather more parent involvement and support, will lead to another successful, fun, safe, and sober night of celebration for Guilford’s newest high school graduates.
“It’s their last hurrah together as seniors,” says Sue. “There’s the saying, ‘It takes a village,’ and we definitely need the village to help support Project Graduation.”