By Morgan Cappock – Staff Reporter

Jonathan Law juniors Harshitha Kothapalli, Layla Alogna, and Kayla Markowitz recently gave two young aspiring athletes a day to remember through the Raffles For Wishes program.

Through the newly-formed Raffles For Wishes Club, the trio of juniors held a raffle that gave elementary school students a chance to participate in a basketball game alongside the Law girls and boys basketball teams.

One boy winner and one girl winner were chosen. The boys winner was Marshall Mercaldi, the 5th grade son of Law science teacher Mrs. Mercaldi, and the girls winner was Sophia Arias, the younger sister of Law junior Emma Johnson.

The raffle was inspired by the Make-a-Wish Program and all of the funds raised went to that program to fund children in need. 

“The program started in Daniel Hand High School and was brought to us to expand the experience,” Kothapalli said. “The program itself is so inspiring, the culmination of being able to give a young athlete an exciting varsity sports experience and also donating to a great cause is so amazing.”

Both raffle winners got to experience what it was like to be a high school athlete.

“What inspired us to start Raffles for Wishes at Jonathan Law was knowing that we would help unite the athletic communities in Milford while also raising money for an amazing cause,” Markowitz said. “Having the opportunity to see younger kids excited about coming to Law and being a part of the athletic community while also seeing our friends be role models for younger athletes was really rewarding as student-athletes ourselves.”

The leaders of the project found it most rewarding to see the children’s faces when they were playing basketball and spending time with all of the other players. The money also went to a great and rewarding cause so the leaders felt positively about the whole project.

“The most rewarding part is seeing the child’s huge smile after an exciting game with players they admire,” Alogna said. “It makes my day to make a kid’s day while raising money for a good cause. It’s a win-win.”

Markowitz credited several members of the Law community with helping to make the raffle a success.

“The process was definitely a bit challenging at first because it was the first time doing the raffle here, but once we got the ball rolling, we felt super lucky because all the coaches, faculty, and teams involved were so supportive and excited to be a part of something so meaningful,” Markowitz said.