(Photo provided) Perry Meridian High School senior Dylan Walden (right) held a fundraising gala for Isaiah 117 House, a nonprofit organization that provides support for foster children awaiting placement earlier this month at The Rathskeller Restaurant. The event included a live auction and silent auction, and raised a total of $60,105.34 (more donations came in after the check was presented). Walden presented the check to Isaiah 117 Marion County House leader Logan Clark at the end of the event.
By HANNAH GUNNELL
Perry Meridian High School senior Dylan Walden more than doubled his fundraising goal for a nonprofit organization at a charity event he organized earlier this month.
Walden and his supporters raised $60,105.34 for Isaiah 117 House, which provides physical and emotional support for children awaiting foster placement, according to its website. Walden, his family and staff at PMHS helped him organize a “Gala to Benefit the Children” which was held Feb. 8 at The Rathskeller Restaurant.
“I decided to take on this project about a year ago for DECA,” he said. DECA is the student honors business program. “I had worked with [Isaiah 117] beforehand, and I decided to partner up with them to raise [money]. Our goal was $30,000, and we were able to double it.”
Walden’s mother works with the house that Isaiah 117 opened in Marion County about a year ago. The national nonprofit started in 2017 in Tennessee, and now has 31 locations in 12 states. Walden frequently volunteers mowing lawns for the Marion County house.
The gala was a black tie event that included guest speakers, a live auction, silent auction, and “all the fun stuff,” Walden said. He took on this project after completing an Eagle Scout project his freshman year packing backpacks for Perry Township, and felt like he wanted to do more.
“I decided I could do something more and I could do something bigger so I wanted to shoot for the stars,” he said.
He definitely reached the cosmos. Walden emceed the event, and he and his other volunteers counted the donations as they came in so they could present the check to Isaiah 117 that same evening.
“It was a huge relief,” he said with a smile. “It was stressful. My hair was turning gray at the age of 17. It was rough.”
But it’s not over yet. Walden will present this project at the state DECA competition next month. This included writing a 20-page paper, which he already completed prior to the gala, and a 15-minute presentation that he will give at the competition.
“I have to give a 15 minute presentation about the overall project, how it turned out and how I grew from it,” he said.
“It turned out way more successful than I ever thought,” he continued. “I’m so grateful for what happened and all of the support I got. … It costs $300 per kid, so 200 kids are going to be able to go through that house free of cost.”
PMHS Business Teacher Dana Dillman, who supported Walden through this project, said another thing they both learned was the importance of choosing the right keynote speakers. Guest speakers at the gala included Pastor Kent Welch and Isaiah 117 founder Rhonda Paulson. The event saw about 250 people attend, including local community leaders like the mayor and DCS director.
“As soon as the first keynote speaker was finished, Pastor Welch, he did amazing,” Dillman said. “He talked about how he was in the foster care system and there was not a dry eye in the house. The second [speaker] was the founder of Isaiah 117 and she backed it up. [Dylan] and I were texting throughout the speech about how great this was going to be. The live auction followed right after and people were just like, ‘Take my money!’”
People donated through purchasing items from the live and silent auctions, like a signed Caitlin Clark jersey or Indy 500 tickets. People also donated online and physically during the event.
Spelling out the words for $60,105.34 on the giant check was a lot, Walden said. He said the gala was so successful that volunteers at other Isaiah 117 houses reached out to him to ask how he did it so they could host something similar, too.
Walden hopes to make it to the DECA nationals competition in Orlando in April. He would be the first PMHS student in the program’s three-year history to do so. After graduation, he will attend Indiana University Bloomington to study business analytics with the career goal of working in investment banking.
