Christian Murkowski

Marathon School District Logo (marathon.k12.wi.us)

One of my heroes is someone I went to school with. My hero is Christian Murkowski. I chose Christian because he is down to earth and cares about others. Christian is now a freshman at Marathon High School, a 2007 National Blue Ribbon School Award winner. Christian's greatest goal is to get a college degree in engineering or chemistry and get a job in one of those fields. Here are some of the most amazing things he has done.

Christian Murkowski is known in Marathon for a fundraiser he did for the people of the island nation of Haiti. Christian learned that most Haitians spend their day looking in the swamps and the mud to catch shellfish and other small animals for the one meal a day that they eat. It is very difficult to farm off the mud and sand so there is little agricultural growing or selling of food. Some people in Haiti make a living out of building houses with mud and garbage. Can you imagine living by spending your days finding food in the swamps, coming home to your garbage hut and eating your one meal that you get almost every day? Sometimes food is scarce in Haiti.

A well that was drilled in Haiti. (esri.com)

That's where Christian wanted to make a difference. Christian had watched a TV show on some African villages that didn't have good, clean water and that had a lack of food. Originally, Christian wanted to raise money to drill a well in Africa. But Christian wanted to have as much money to use as he could and the shipping cost to Africa was too large. That's how Christian decided to help a much closer Haiti. So with his own money he bought prizes ranging from a Nintendo Wii to etch-a-sketches to gift cards. Then Christian raffled the prizes away. It was $1 per raffle ticket on every prize but the Wii. Raffle tickets for the Wii were $5. It was announced almost every day over the school PA system that raffle was coming up.

Once the day of the raffle came, the lines at the containers where you'd drop in your name was longer than anyone thought it would be. Everyone was really pumped and wanted the Nintendo Wii. Adults even wanted it really bad. One guy put $100 worth of tickets toward trying to get the Wii. My friend Jonny Conklin put $50 in the Wii drawing. I myself put in $10 worth of tickets into the Wii's container. The drawings took place in the gym of Marathon Area Elementary School. The bleachers and the space around them were packed. It was a great thing that Christian was doing.

The fundraiser raised over $8,000. The money was used to drill a well so that good water would be available to people in Haiti. Christian also has done community service at the New Life Pet Adoption Center in Marathon, Wisconsin. The main thing that Christian did was walk dogs and play with cats and do other various tasks. Christian even held a town garage sale to raise more money. Christian doesn't think of himself as a great, big hero. He thinks he's just someone doing a good thing or two. This was very inspirational and motivating to me and many others. What Christian did gets people to want to do just as much as he did, if not more. That is why Christian is a hero to me.