Lehighton Area High School’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter is looking to secure funding to send its 36 state competition qualifiers to Hershey in April.

FBLA adviser Kevin Kotch told Lehighton’s school board Monday night that if no additional funds are raised by the club, students would have to pay $371 each to attend the conference and compete. The cost includes three nights for accommodations, five meals and the conference registration fee.

“We have one family who had three siblings qualify,” Kotch said. “That’s over $1,000 and a lot to ask of them to pay out. Some students, even though they may have a job, have to help out with bills at home and can’t come up with this money. We have been working tirelessly making sure our FBLA membership gets increased. More members also means more potential qualifiers. We don’t want to leave any students out of this wonderful educational experience.”

Lehighton’s school board normally contributes $3,500 per year to the FBLA organization, but Kotch is asking the governing body to consider a larger investment this year. He is also turning to local businesses and community members who may be willing to help out.

Victoria Nied, a Lehighton freshman, said her FBLA experiences have helped her build connections, and a trip to the state competition could broaden those horizons even further.

“I have met so many people I normally wouldn’t have without being in the club,” Nied, who competes in the public speaking category, said. “As a freshman, it’s really important to be able to make friends. If I can go to Hershey, I will have an opportunity to compete and possibly qualify for nationals as well as meet other students from around the state.”

Breanna Demage, a fellow freshman, said the growth of the FBLA organization has been exciting for Lehighton.

“It’s crazy to see the numbers keep going up,” she said. “This affects a lot of us. It would be a great educational opportunity to go to Hershey and compete. It’s something we have earned and worked really hard for.”

Lehighton’s FBLA membership jumped from 34 to 54 members over the past year. Last year, 41% of its membership qualified for the state competition and three advanced to nationals. In 2024, 67% of its membership earned the right to head to Hershey.

“From a financial and planning perspective, we were not expecting 36 students to qualify for states,” Kotch said. “We grossly underestimated the potential of our students, and they prove us wrong time and time again.”

Kotch said the FBLA currently has $6,500 in its cash balance and completed two bingo fundraisers in October and December raising $1,500 and $1,000 respectively. An upcoming winter semi-formal, he added, could raise up to $5,000. They need $13,356 for the conference.

“The difficult thing for us right now is the balance for the state conference is due by Feb. 23 and that doesn’t give us a whole lot of time to fit in another fundraiser,” Kotch said. “Our students are exceptional and I would expect to have our numbers either stay consistent or improve from year to year. We will need to start fundraising as soon as possible each school year to be able to have a fund balance big enough to help cover the cost of these conferences.”