Students and staff at Hunter Elementary will hit the pavement Friday to raise money for a cause that hits close to home, and they are asking the community to join them.
The school will hold its second annual Walk-A-Thon for Cystic Fibrosis 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday. The walk will be open to anyone who would like to participate, teacher and event organizer Amanda Barnett said.
At Hunter, the students and teachers know all too well about cystic fibrosis. Last year, Bethany Holder, a sixth-grade student at the school, lost her battle with the illness.
“It impacts our school in a huge way because we lost Bethany,” Barnett said. “We have a lot of people in our community, our teachers and our students who are affected by this disease.”
“Until Bethany passed away, we didn’t know we had other students who had this disease,” she added. “We didn’t know how many of our staff had someone in their family with it or had lost a loved one to this disease.”
A special ceremony to honor those battling cystic fibrosis as well as those who have lost their lives to the disease will open the walk.
“The class Bethany would have been in will be doing a balloon release for her,” Barnett said.
The walk will also feature two very special laps.
“We are going to do a survivors lap that will be for anyone battling cystic fibrosis,” Barnett said. “We are also going to have an ‘In Memory’ lap for those who have lost loved ones to this disease, and Bethany’s family will walk in that.”
The school will be selling T-shirts at the event, and special bracelets will be available for a donation, Barnett said. School officials will accept cash donations on site the day of the event.
“All of that money will going to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,” Barnett said, adding the foundation uses the money to raise awareness about the disease and to research a cure.
Last year, the walk-a-thon raised $25,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the school is hoping for another successful drive this year, Barnett said. If you want to help but cannot make it to the walk Friday, you can donate through the school by writing a check to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, or you can donate online at www.cff.org.