The Highlands Rotary Club and the Highlands School Interact Club will be working in collaboration with one another to hold a fundraiser at the Rotary Club’s annual July fourth hotdog cookout to raise funds for a recent Highlands High School graduate, Seth Staffelbach.
Staffelbach, who graduated from HHS this year and has been described by many as extremely hardworking and kind, is in need of a full dental restoration after experiencing long lasting damage from asthma treatments taken as a child.
“Seth has deep roots in the Highlands area, and he has a unique heart and strong work ethic,” Highlands High School teacher Tracy Hedden said. “His family is well known and are always serving others and working hard. He doesn’t let his weaknesses hold him back in any way. He graduated in May from Highlands School and received many honors and scholarships.”
While costs for full dental restorations can cost tens of thousands of dollars, local dentist Dr. Christopher Dyer has agreed to do a large portion of the procedure pro-bono. However, the procedure still comes with a hefty price tag, which is what drove Hedden, along with multiple other teachers from HHS, to seek out help from the Rotary Club and the community of Highlands.
“This was brought to the rotary’s attention by some concerned teachers at Highlands School,” Rotary Club member Jerry Moore said. “And they had gone off the mountain and gotten some estimates somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000. But we were able to work with Dr. Dyer’s office and he has agreed to do a lot of it pro bono. So, we’re down to $5,000 that we’re trying to raise.”
Staffelbach, who has been a fixture in the lives of those who know him through his work at various local businesses and his commitment to the school, being voted by Highlands School for the Highlander Pride Award.
“Seth’s smile is the hallmark to the positive energy that Seth shares with others,” Hedden said. “He is well known throughout our community through school, his work at a local pizza place and now his current work at Bryson’s. Seth invests in his school and local community and strives for excellence and success. He is truly a people person and has a heart of service to the public. The dental work will help his confidence as he attends trade school, interviews for future jobs and interacts with the public.”
This is not the first time the Rotary Club has used their Fourth of July cookout as a way to raise funds for residents in need, and Moore hopes that it will provide an opportunity to not only help out Staffelbach, but also as a way to bring the community together.
“We’ve done something similar in the past,” Moore said. “There was a young lady at Highlands School who needed a therapy dog to alert her when she was having seizures, and we dedicated the Fourth of July cookout to her. But what I saw with that, and what I hope to see with this, is that it’s just such a great way to bring the whole community together behind the cause for an awesome young man. It just connects people, I mean, from different walks of life. It gives us all something that we can look at and go, we helped him overcome this obstacle in his life.”
Hedden and Moore both hope that the community will come out and support the fundraiser and Staffelbach as he moves into the next phase of his life with confidence.
“I was born and raised in this amazing town, and I have seen and felt first-hand how Highlanders work together to lift up those needing a boost in life,’’ Hedden said. “It is important to remember that it does take a village to work together for the common good of our fellow citizens. If we all do a little to help, then great things can be accomplished as an end result. Working together to help Seth will be rewarding for all as we see his famous, sweet smile.”
The cookout and fundraiser will beginning at 11 a.m., on Monday, July 4, at the Highlands Ballfield. Food and beverages will be provided in exchange for a donation of any sum. All funds raised will go to Staffelbach’s restoration.
Staffelbach plans to attend community college to study wildlife management in hopes to one day become a federal game warden.
- By Kaylee Cook