Natalie Zimmerman, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and member of the cheer team, tosses out a dead Christmas tree as part of a fundraiser for the team during 2019. (Natalie Zimmerman | Courtesy photo)

Natalie Zimmerman, a senior at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and member of the cheer team, tosses out a dead Christmas tree as part of a fundraiser for the team during 2019. (Natalie Zimmerman | Courtesy photo)

Win-win: JDHS cheerleading team to recycle trees to fundraise

Money will help them travel to competitions and equip the team

As the holidays draw to a chilly close, at least one group of people hopes to benefit from the wave of suddenly but unsurprisingly surplus Christmas trees.

“This fundraiser is to help raise money,” said Natalie Zimmerman, a Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior and member of the team during a phone interview. “We’re traveling to California this year. We’re also traveling to state (championships). We’re also getting new uniforms.”

Members of the team will pick up dead trees for a small fee and drop them off at the recycling center on the next two Saturdays. Zimmerman said the team has held the fundraiser for the last several years, since 2017.

”It pays for hotels and airfare and that kind of stuff,” Zimmerman said. “Last summer we went to a UCA (Universal Cheerleading Association) camp and we had to fundraise for that.”

Zimmerman said the teams raised more than $21,000 last year for travel and team expenses, and will need to raise more this year.

“We don’t get any funds from the school, and we have to sell trees and do raffles and do our own fundraising,” Zimmerman said. “We really appreciate the support from the community.”

The school pays for coaches and officials, but not for travel or lodging at competitions or camps.

Dylan Vernon, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and member of the cheer team, collects a dead Christmas tree as part of a fundraiser for the team during 2019. (Natalie Zimmerman | Courtesy photo)

Dylan Vernon, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé and member of the cheer team, collects a dead Christmas tree as part of a fundraiser for the team during 2019. (Natalie Zimmerman | Courtesy photo)

The cheer team often travels with the basketball team, which will be competing soon here in Juneau in the regional conference. If JDHS makes it to the state basketball tournament, Zimmerman said, the cheer team will stick around after their own tournament to cheer them on. The JDHS cheer team has done well, winning their division or the state competition outright for two out of the last three championships.

While the tree removal isn’t a major money-maker for the team, Zimmerman said, it does generate goodwill within the community, which helps.

Got a tree to get rid of?

To offload your Christmas tree, call or text (907)723-6580. Pickups will be on Jan. 4 and 11 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The cost is $10, payable by cash or check made out to JDHS Cheer, either in an envelope or handed over in person.

“We ask that all decorations are taken off and it’s left in the front yard or driveway,” Zimmerman said. “We usually do really well on the second weekend that we do it because people are ready to take down their Christmas decorations.”


• Contact reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@juneauempire.com.


More in Sports

Soldotna’s Keegan Myrick and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé sophomore Caden Morris battle for a puck during Friday’s 4-3 Crimson Bears’ loss to the visiting Stars at Treadwell Ice Arena. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Stars eclipse Crimson Bears

JDHS hockey team falls to visiting Soldotna skaters.

The Walter Washington Center in downtown Washington, D.C., hosted the 25,000 scientists who attended the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union from Dec. 9-13, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Alaska Science Forum: More familiar news of the North

WASHINGTON, D.C. — I am once again elbow-to-elbow with thousands of scientists,… Continue reading

The 2024-25 Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears Girls Basketball team. Standing, from left-to-right, senior Kerra Baxter (22), junior Gwen Nizich (11), freshman Lydia Goins (15), senior Addison Wilson (10), sophomore Layla Tokuoka (14), junior Cambry Lockhart (3), sophomore June Troxel (5), senior Mary Johnson (4), freshman Sadie Lockhart (13), sophomore Bergen Erickson (12), freshman Athena Warr (21) and senior Cailynn Baxter (23). Seated l-r: Senior manager Nadia Wilson, head coach Tanya Nizich, assistant coaches Jasmine James, Angie Kemp, Nicole Fenumiai, and junior manager Jadyn Cook. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Crimson Bears girls basketball has roster for state title

Combining of two schools sets high expectations, but region and state are daunting.

Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior Jayden Johnson (4), shown in action against West Anchorage during the ASAA State Playoffs on Oct. 12, was selected to play in the 2025 Native American High School Football All-Star Game, Jan. 7, at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Jayden Johnson one of three Alaskans selected for Native American High School Football All-Star Game

60 Native American athletes from across U.S. will play in front of college recruiters Jan. 7 in Texas.

Alev Kelter, a member of the bronze-winning USA’s Rugby Sevens team at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, is one of two new inductees in the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame. (USA Rugby photo)
NHL star Brandon Dubinsky, Olympic rugby medalist Alev Kelter elected to Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

Hall also adding historic Alaska moments involving 1992 Winter Games, 2008 NCAA basketball title game

The 2024-25 Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé Crimson Bears are, standing left-to-right, sophomore manager Amelia Geary, junior Brandon Casperson (5), senior Pedrin Saceda-Hurt (10), senior Ben Sikes (11), sophomore Logan Carriker (24), junior Elias Dybdahl (20), freshman Keaton Belcourt (44), junior Damian Efergan (1), junior Tyler Frisby (21) and sophomore manager Skylar Oliva. Seated at front l-r, junior Kurt Kuppert (14), senior Ahmir Parker (2), senior Gavin Gerrin (3) and sophomore Hunter Carte (15). Not pictured is junior Joren Gasga. (Photo courtesy Crimson Bears)
Crimson Bears look to return to the show

JDHS boys basketball team ready to earn next state title.

The author wearing one of the only Christmas sweaters he is allowed to wear, largely because it is one of the only sweaters he owns. (Photo by Klas Stolpe)
Pure Sole: Sweater Up!

Dear readers, I am at a loss and need some help. Once… Continue reading

A male downy woodpecker pecks at a suet block with its small bill. (Photo by Steve Willson)
On the Trails: Hairy and downy woodpeckers

A male hairy woodpecker is a regular visitor to my peanut butter… Continue reading

On Aug. 6, 2024, an outburst flood from the Mendenhall Glacier caused major flooding in the Mendenhall Glacier Basin. Multiple homes and roads are inundated. No reports of injuries have been reported. The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) issued an evacuation order on the evening of August 5 and established an emergency shelter for residents displaced by the flooding. (Alaska National Guard courtesy photo)
Alaska Science Forum: Alaska continues to change, fast

With his eyes on Alaska weather and climate for many years, Rick… Continue reading

Most Read