The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

The Donkey Ball game scheduled for this Saturday is being played to offset the cost of coaches’ stipends for the school district.

Two years ago, with basic education suffering budget cuts, the Wahkiakum School District board decided to look at expenses for extra curricular activities, Wahkiakum Superintendent Bob Garrett said.

“We reduced all coaches stipends by 20 percent two years ago,” he said.

Garrett, who was the athletic director at the time, agreed to do those duties without additional pay.

Last year, coaches asked for the 20 percent to be added back into their stipends, with the promise of using fund-raising events to make up the cost, Garrett said.

Last year, coaches sponsored two events, the donkey ball game and the Hall of Fame Dinner, but did not make up the full amount.

The amount raised last year was about half of the amount the coach’s salaries had been reduced.

“We decided it was a good faith effort for the first year, and we would try it again this year,” Garrett said.

The Donkey Ball games were originally set up to raise money for local food banks many years ago.

“Several years ago, when we didn’t have this situation,” Garrett said.