The CPHS Wrestling Booster Club discovered a new fundraising tactic: shredding paper. On Oct. 17, the booster club held its annual Shred Day from 10 a.m to 1 p.m. in the CPHS parking lot.  Attendees could safely shred their important documents during the event with help from the wrestlers who unloaded documents. 

Booster club president Jason Malmquist said the event will be held twice this year, in addition to the previous shred day, the event will also occur on April 15 to accommodate for business tax day and regular tax day. 

“[With the new addition of business tax day] we decided to do it in the fall,” Malmquist said. “We knew this is something that a lot of us as accountants, bookkeepers, business owners and as parents, don’t see, so we just had an idea to do this, and it [has] turned into a great opportunity for all the wrestlers to come up and do this all in one day and have it done and  move forward.” 

Malmquist also added that the fundraising tactic was especially convenient during the ongoing pandemic. He said the limited amount of interaction was practical and efficient for people.

“People [didn’t] even have to get out of their cars,” Malmquist said. “They just g[ot] up, they put a donation in a box, and nobody has to touch that. We pull[ed] [the documents] out the back [of their cars], and put it in [boxes]. No mingling or anything like that, so it works out pretty well in this scenario.” 

The organization began this event four years ago, back in 2016. The booster club’s treasurer at the time, who was also an accountant, suggested taking donations from people as means of fundraising. Malmquist, who is also the president of the Football Booster Club, said that they wanted to do something different than since the school encourages different fundraising choices. 

“We wanted to do something nobody else was doing,” Malmquist said. “A bookkeeper realized that nobody else was doing that, so we decided to move on and do this for the school.” 

The booster club normally targets to raise $3,000 in donations for all their paper shred events. This helps to pay off the wrestling team’s additional costs, such as uniforms, food and equipment. The goal remains the same for the next shred day in the spring. 

According to Malmquist, the event helped the team bond as wrestling, being an individual sport, doesn’t provide a chance for the wrestlers to come together often. 

“Other sports tend to do things a lot as a team,” Malmquist said. “In wrestling, we do have a team, such as team scoring. But this gives them a chance to bond, spend some time together, and it’s always fun to do something like this together. We think it’s important that the wrestlers are the ones raising the money. When they are here themselves, they actually have to come out and do something, and we think that [it’s] great that they put in [effort]for their own team.” 

The people who went to support the booster club during this event also appreciated the level of involvement from the team. A variety of people, ranging from students, teachers and parents, attended the event.  

“[I have been helping the club] since my son was in his sophomore year,” wrestling parent Michele Sniffin said. “[What brings me joy is getting] a chance to get involved [with the club]. My son is going to go to college in a couple of years, so I’m trying to take advantage of any time I can get with him [and the club] in these last couple of years.”

Another way students can help support the wrestling team is by attending their games. Malmquist encourages students to go watch the wrestling matches and provide enough enthusiasm for the club to keep going. 

“You can certainly help support the club by coming out and seeing [in action],” Malmquist said. “If you’ve been to them at Cedar Park the last two years, you’ll realize how cool [we are]. So, come out and support [us] that way. In the spring, we will do duels against Leander, Vandegrift and a couple other [schools]. Come out and just check it out. You’ll see once and you’ll get addicted. You’ll get addicted.”

For more information about fundraisers the Wrestling Booster Club will conduct and scheduled meets visit their website here.