Saint Mary's school raises $30k to fight childhood cancer
ELK COUNTY (WTAJ) — Many schools participate in their own mini version of Penn State's THON and Saint Mary's Middle School is no different. They held their 5th Annual Mini-THON Friday to support the fight against pediatric cancer.
'Our small town has had its share of children battling this disease. So, we love coming together as a school to try to raise money to find a cure,' 7th Grade Teacher Dana Smith said.
At the end of the event, the school revealed the total amount the school raised. This year's amount was $30,885.02.
Teachers say their students save their money because this is one of their favorite events of the school year.
'They save their allowance money for it. They realize that what they're doing is bigger than them because we bring in people from the community to talk about their experiences with childhood cancer and the children while they're young they're still able to understand the importance of what they're able to do today,' 8th Grade Teacher Danielle Brody said.
During the event, the school invites community members to talk to the students about their experience with childhood cancer, so the students gain a better understanding of what they are raising money for.
'I was asked to come in today to give a speech on my son Reece who was diagnosed 18 years ago with childhood cancer he was diagnosed with bilateral wilms tumor which is a very rare and somewhat aggressive cancer for children. It's very important because what these kids are doing today is raising awareness to childhood cancer and also raising funding for the research for childhood cancer,' guest speaker, Jennifer Scolari said.
The students held the event all school day and were able to use their money to buy tickets for items such as glow sticks, snacks and raffles.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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