It is 6 a.m. outside the Philly Pretzel Factory. Seniors Omkar Katkade and Mohit Manna, Hope and Beyond club president and vice president, respectively, go inside to pick up the 400 pretzels they plan to sell later that day. At 7:15 a.m. they bring the pretzels to school and set up tables in preparation for the morning rush. The money they make will go toward supporting mental health care.

Conestoga’s Hope and Beyond Club has held a multitude of fundraisers this year in addition to pretzel and donut bake sales. Ever since the creation of the club in September 2022, the money that it has raised goes toward helping people struggling with mental health issues.

“For a while we had been pretty passionate about mental health and knew a lot of people in the community who struggled with those kinds of issues,” Katkade said. “That was a problem pretty close to our hearts. We started fundraising and figured it was the least we could do to help money go to people in need.”

The majority of Hope and Beyond’s donations goes to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The foundation works to improve the future of mental health care by hosting Out of the Darkness Walks, in which supporters walk side by side to raise awareness and funds, and by conducting academic clinical research on suicide preven- tion techniques.

Last year, Hope and Beyond members donated to A Path to Hope, a local mental health nonprofit. This year, they voted to donate to a larger organization instead.

“A Path To Hope last year was more of a grounded thing, just helping our community specifically,” Katkade said. “But fundraising for such a big institution like the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention allows you to have that broad, wide scale impact that can make country-wide change, which we’re excited about.”

The club’s first fundraiser this school year was hosting an after-school chess tournament with the Chess Club in October. Over winter break, its most successful fundraising effort came from members going door to door asking for donations and informing others about the organization. The club also raised funds by partnering with Panera Bread. The Hope and Beyond club has raised $6,000 so far, and members hope to reach $10,000 by the end of the school year.

“Our future goals are to expand the club, get more people and have wider causes,” Manna said. “We want to expand to more than just fundraising. We want to actually educate people about mental health.”