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Catholic school holds charity walk fundraiser for homeless
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Related Topics: Arlington
Arlington (Map, News) - Students, faculty and volunteers from St. Ann Catholic School in Arlington raised thousands of dollars for the homeless earlier this month by participating in a charitable walk. School Principal Sister Elizabeth Ann McGuire talked to The Examiner about the walk and other charity works performed by students at the school.
Talk about how the idea for the walk developed.
The school has been participating in the Help the Homeless mini-walk for a number of years. ... We changed the format to permit the whole school to participate at the same time, rather than as an activity conducted during the physical education classes.
The changed format allowed the students to be a visible presence to the community as they traveled a route around the St. Ann Church and School property. The format also allowed our older students to pair up with our younger students to provide safety and oversight for our littlest walkers.
How many students participated, and how did they participate? Were parents and faculty involved?
The entire school participated in the walk [this year]. We had a total of 260 walkers, which included preschool through eighth grade, the teachers, office staff and parents who volunteered to patrol the walk route and then join the walk as the students passed their checkpoints.
How much money did the walk raise?
The 260 walkers raised $4,245. Based on the number of walkers, we qualified for an additional $5,000 from the Fanny Mae Foundation for a total of $9,245 earmarked for Borromeo Housing [an Arlington group that provides transitional housing].
What other type of charitable works are students at the school involved in?
Each year, St. Ann School participates in a number of charitable works. These projects include collecting food for [the Arlington Food Assistance Center], making donations to Loverture Cleary School in Haiti for their solar-panel energy project, collecting gloves, hats, socks and toiletries for [the Arlington Street People Assistance Network].
In addition, the eighth grade works with The Reading Connection to assist with their monthly mailings. The school also responds to the needs of victims of natural disasters or other crises. Several classes have also been pen pals to the soldiers in the Middle East.
dfrancis@dcexaminer.com
