Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025 | 2 a.m.
Sponsored by UNLV
Bonanza High School senior Taliyah Braithwaite walked into the Salvation Army with boxes of canned goods for the needy.
She couldn’t help feeling a sense of accomplishment.
Those 500 cans, eventually stacked next to items donated by other groups, would provide meals for less fortunate members of the community.
They were collected during a fundraiser Braithwaite helped plan with the Bonanza Student Council.
“I was proud,” she said. “It made me happy seeing the cans we raised (lined up).”
The cans were donated during a trunk-or-treat event Braithwaite coordinated in the school’s parking lot.
Her brainchild brought elementary school students and their families to the high school for a Halloween social.
The crowd was much larger than the students expected to create a true community feel, officials said. For one night, it felt like a school situated in the heart of a region with 2 million residents was the only school in town.
“She is someone who is really committed to the school and works hard to make it a better place,” said Lindsay Power, the Student Council advisor who has worked with Braithwaite for four years.
Braithwaite, who carries a 4.0 grade point average and ranks near the top of her graduating class, does a little bit of everything in the name of advocating for the school she is passionate about.
She’s also a member of the Bengals’ cheerleading team and an advisor for this month’s Mr. Bengal, the annual senior boys pageant and fundraising event. This is the event’s 20th year.
Braithwaite said her responsibilities with the Student Council are a “huge time commitment” but worth the investment. The group’s work enhances the high school experience for their classmates, she said.
“She’s (helped) a ton of people at Bonanza in a really good way,” Power said.
Braithwaite’s love for the community is partially behind her future plans.
She intends to study criminal psychology at UNLV for a law enforcement career in “helping prevent crimes from happening,” she said.