Four Central High School students have the chance of a lifetime in front of them, invited Wednesday afternoon to visit Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House

Now, all the school has to do is raise $15,000 to get them there and back.

That’s the school’s estimate for how much airfare, lodging, meals and transportation would cost a party of seven that would include four members of Central’s softball team, plus athletics director Alicia Ekegren, head coach Haley McFarlane, assistant coach Shakia Wilkerson and the team’s four co-captains.

“Passing up the opportunity is not an option,” Central principal Cherise Ayers said.

That’s why Central has officially accepted the invitation, and will spend the next few days raising the money to make it happen.

“A person has to take them. The invitation is extended to all of them. Can all of them go? That’s the question,” said Sunny Kase, co-chair of Central’s Parent Advisory Council, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit that raises money for the school.

“I think Vice President Harris meeting all of our amazing women, women of color, and girls, is an awesome opportunity,” Kase said. “The common barrier, from staff to teacher and coaches, is no one has an extra $1,200 sitting around to fly in and out of Washington for two nights.”

To that end, the PAC spent Thursday contacting alumni and local businesses, and creating a Go Fund Me page, in an effort to raise the money in time for the players, and at least one adult to chaperone, to be in Washington for a meeting scheduled for next Wednesday at the White House.

“It’s a lot of money and really fast,” said Ayers, a Central graduate. “We’re leaning on our community, and a big piece of Central is how much the community supports us. Sports boosters, the PAC, they’re working really hard. We’re looking at foundations. It’s such a great opportunity for young women to go and be leaders, and learn from the woman in the highest seat of power in our nation.”

Harris visited a Central practice on March 14, surprising the team at Jimmy Lee Recreation Center after she delivered a speech at a St. Paul Planned Parenthood clinic. But the invitation didn’t arrive until Wednesday, “completely out of the blue,” according to Ayers.

“The best kind of surprise,” she said.

The players, school AD Ekegren said Thursday, are “excited beyond words; they can’t even speak. There are no words to convert how excited they are, and how much they appreciate this opportunity. It’s a once-a-lifetime thing.”

Kase said the PAC raises between $50,000 and $60,000 a year through Central alumni alone, but the deadline for this one is daunting.

“We need to piece some things together and align everything,” she said. “Our focus is on the opportunity for four young women, amazing young leaders at Central, to continue a connection with the Vice President and bring those skills back not just to the softball team but the whole school.”

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