Neveln Principal Dewey Schara regrets promising to kiss a barn animal Wednesday afternoon. Neveln students donated enough food to fill Schara's office as part of the Neveln PTC's annual donation drive. -- Trey Mewes/trey.mewes@austindailyherald.com

Neveln Principal kisses goat for a good cause

Neveln Elementary School Principal Dewey Schara had a hairy dilemma Wednesday afternoon. He had to kiss a goat.

Principal Dewey Schara reflects upon kissing a goat as the goat comes into the Neveln Elementary School gym Wednesday.

Schara fulfilled his promise to Neveln students to kiss a barn animal after students raised enough food in recent weeks to fill his office, part of an annual fundraiser by Neveln’s Parent Teacher Committee.

“It was really funny,” said Celsey Bauer, fifth-grader and Neveln Student Council co-president.

Schara said at one point that he wasn’t sure students were going to meet their goal for the Salvation Army. That changed two Fridays ago, when students more than filled his office with donations.

“I had to stand on the table,” he said.

Students say they had fun gathering the donations and that it was worth the effort to help local families.

“We could hardly fit all the food in our carts when we collected it,” said Harmony King, fifth-grader and student council co-president.

Schara described the kiss with the goat as dry, hairy, and not one of his top 10 kisses, yet the bigger cause behind kissing a farm animal was more important to him.

“A lot of needy families are going to be helped,” he told Neveln students.