WJLE Radiothon Raises Nearly $10,000 for DCHS Project Graduation Celebration

A community rally around a radio microphone netted nearly $10,000 for DCHS Project Graduation's Class of 2026, with funds earmarked for the prizes and cash giveaways that make the all-night safe celebration worth showing up for.

The WJLE radiothon drew broad participation from the DeKalb County community, but the most visible contributions came from the seniors themselves. Students took on fundraising stunts that included singing performances and eating challenges, turning the drive into something closer to a live event than a pledge drive. That senior-led energy helped push the total to just under the five-figure mark.

The money raised goes directly toward the experience graduates will have at the celebration. Organizers have structured Project Graduation around prizes and incentives specifically, framing the giveaways not just as perks but as the mechanism that keeps students engaged and off the roads on graduation night. Cash giveaways, in particular, are positioned as both a draw and a safety strategy: the more there is to win, the more reason graduates have to stay at the event through the night.

What the WJLE radiothon demonstrated is a community-funded model of graduation gifting that operates entirely outside the retail gift guide. Rather than individual families purchasing presents, an entire county pooled resources to give the graduating class a shared experience, complete with take-home prizes. The result is a graduation night built on collective investment, where the community's contribution becomes the gift.

For the DCHS Class of 2026, that investment arrives at the celebration itself.