A step toward finding a cure

Different causes sponsor charity events to raise funding

 

Junior Meghan Rhodes starts to prepare herself for the upcoming Angel Kisses walk/run. Rhodes and her family participate in walks similar to this one every spring. PHOTO BY JESSY COOPER

 

By Devin Fennelly
March 25, 2008

Students can participate in a variety of walks for charity this spring.

 

This Mother’s Day, May 11th, “‘Angel Kisses’” will kick off its fourth-annual walk/run to raise money for Leukemia and all proceeds go to the Jeffrey Virostek fund.

 

“Jeffrey Virostek was a little boy who had leukemia when he was four,” junior Meghan Rhodes said. “Their family lives in our neighborhood and we know their family.”

 

The walk starts at 7:30 a.m. at Poplar Tree Pool, circles around Point Pleasant and then goes over to Poplar Tree Elementary School. Both a 5K run and a 2K walk are offered.

 

Registration is required and you receive a T-shirt when you sign up. Prizes are awarded and they announce who won each age group that day.

 

“It’s fun and it’s always like happy because it’s Mother’s Day too,” Rhodes said.

 

The Great Strides 10K Fun Walk will be held May 18, in Reston and Centreville. All proceeds go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

 

The community service based Interact Club will be taking part in this walk. Students in Interact can choose which events to participate in each month and the Cystic Fibrosis walk is optional.

 

The club is always looking for new projects and their sponsor, Carmen Wise, said that it would be great if they got involved.

 

“My daughter has Cystic Fibrosis,” Wise said. “So I told them that it would be great if we got involved. We actually have kids who go here who have it. We had a student come to a meeting and speak about it.”

 

Cystic Fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects the lungs and intestines. About 30,000 children have it in the United States.

 

There are lots of other activities that the Interact Club will be participating in this month and next month. They just sponsored a bake sale to raise money for the Sjogren Syndrome Foundation and there is a walk coming up for that cause as well. Some members are participating individually, but they aren’t creating a team. They frequently visit the Stevenson House and are also able to apply for the Rotary Youth Leadership Award Camp.

 

This year, Interact set a new goal for the school.

 

“We broke records with the blood drive with how many we received in one day,” Wise said.