World Photo by Lou Sennick Daniel Stone, left, uses the corner of his t-shirt to polish up the silver plate given to the Mr. Bulldog pageant by the Children’s Miracle Network. Stone and the other nine contestants raised $62,463.29 to help the neo-natal intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Hospital in Eugene. Their final tally is the largest from any high school pageant in the state. The contestants were, from left, Stone, Kevin Sundbaum, Michael Bishop, Brian McAndrew, Austin Nicholls, Trevin Sundbaum, Jonathan Bauder, Matt Green, Luke Debrito and Kerry Larsen.

After raising more than $62,400 for the Children's Miracle Network, North Bend High School Mr. Bulldog contestants are the top dogs in the state.

In the Mr. Bulldog competition, 10 young men and 10 young women work from October to April to raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network, which helps fund the neo-natal intensive care unit at the Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene. While larger schools raised as much as $19,000, this year's Mr. Bulldog contestants blew every record and their own expectations out of the water, raising $62,463.29 - a new record for participating high schools state-wide.

The goal was to beat the school's $38,000 donation in 2005.

“It's an amazing amount of money,” said Trevin Sundbaum, one of the Bulldog contestants.

“We beat our own goal by over $19,000,” added Alyse Johnson. “We've more than doubled the amount we made two years ago.”

The 20 students organized and hosted a variety of fund-raising events for the last six months to get the community on board and raise money for the Children's Miracle Network. Although the students all knew they had raised more money than expected, until the over sized check was presented to them on Saturday, April 8, none knew how far they had surpassed their own expectations.

“We knew we'd beat our goal, but we didn't know by how much,” said Amee Erbele, the contest coordinator. Schools in the area raised almost $80,000, including the $13,000 raised by Marshfield High School's Mr. MHS contest, she added.

Melissa Sayer, executive director of the Children's Miracle Network, was very surprised by North Bend High School's huge donation.

“Their passion, is just amazing. They have totally and completely blown any record of any high school in Oregon. We're stunned,” Sayer said. “We're so thankful, beyond thankful. By themselves, they have bought equipment that the NICU never thought they would be able to have.”

According to Sayer, when she told the specialists and nurses at the NICU about the “astronomical” donation, some began to cry.

“It's unbelievable. I can't even put it into words,” Sayer said. “From this small community, you imagine they would have a smaller number. But they banded together and blew any other donation of this kind out of the water!”

Community effort

The fund-raising success of the Mr. Bulldog contest is not due only to the efforts of the students, but the community, as well. Several students said the community deserved a great deal of credit, for supporting the high school, the students and their fund-raising events.

“We wouldn't have been able to raise this amount of money without the huge support of the community, and how much they back this contest,” said Jonathan Bauder.

“I think we have a generous community,” added Michael Bishop.

It was standing room only at the Mr. Bulldog pageant on Saturday. According to contest advisor Kristi Erbele, people were sitting on the floor and standing off to the side, just for a chance to see the young men perform.

“We've never had the auditorium as packed as it was Saturday. People stood through the whole thing, people sat in the aisles, it was amazing,” she said. “Our kids are just in it for the program. Virtually all of the Mr. Bulldog contestants from last year were there. It's a family thing.”

The talent section of the pageant was very popular, especially the dancing, said Bauder.

“It was an outstanding show. It had people laughing and crying. It was very entertaining and made for a very enjoyable experience for everyone who was able to go,” said North Bend High School Principal Bill Lucero.

The contestants are judged on a variety of factors, including how much money each contestant raised, talent, an interview, a teacher evaluation, and a section on their childhood dreams.

Of all the contestants, Daniel Stone stood out as the most talented, wowing the crowd with a very authentic version of the final dance in the movie “Dirty Dancing,” with his partner Katie Grover. He was named Mr. Bulldog 2006, but maintains that entering the contest wasn't about winning - it was about the kids.

Helping children

“I think it's just an example of how when the community is committed to something like this, they can pull together and make a real difference,” said Lucero. “I think those boys, every last one of them, are outstanding. Whether they made $10,000 or $60,000 they would have made a huge contribution to the Children's Miracle Network.”

Erbele said in November the students set a goal to raise $43,000, which they surpassed six weeks ago.

“Then they set a goal for 50,000, and they surpassed that two weeks ago,” she said. “I finally stopped telling them where we were!”

Each contestant was charged with raising a minimum of $1,800, a feat which the students all managed with a bit more than anyone expected.

“We all slaughtered that,” Stone said with a laugh.

North Bend High School has been the only high school of the 20 that participate in the Children's Miracle Network fund-raising, that has consistently increased the amount of money donated each year, for 11 years.

“There's a lot of schools who have four or five times as many students as we do, and a lot more people to support it, but we made a lot more money,” Lucero said. “I'm very proud of them, I think they did an outstanding job.”

Erbele agrees, and sees the fund-raiser as a challenge to larger schools and communities to do as much for the Children's Miracle Network as North Bend.

The contestants are all friends, Erbele said, and six of them have been together since kindergarten. Even while the boys were competing, the group worked together to raise the most money, sharing and pitching in for the benefit of the Children's Miracle Network and the babies the organization assists.

The students don't see that as very extraordinary.

“Basically we just have a lot of fun,” said Luke DeBrito.

“We take a serious subject and make it fun,” added Kerry Larsen.

The camaraderie between the contestants and the girls who spent months helping them coordinate, organize and prepare for the pageant, is obvious and heartfelt. Good-natured teasing, and an easy atmosphere surround the former competitors, without the slightest sign of malice or jealousy.

When fellow contestant Kevin Sundbaum asked Stone if he felt different now that he had been selected as Mr. Bulldog, Stone said no.

“You couldn't have picked 10 better guys or 10 better girls to raise this amount of money,” he said. “I feel different because of the money we raised.”