There were kids running around with capes at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Elliot Lake last week and it was all for a great cause.
Vice-principal Nadia Zanatta says nearly $2,000, almost double their goal, was raised for Holland Bloorview Children’s Rehabilitation near Toronto, a centre that provides medical assistance for children with spina bifida.
This fundraiser hits close to home as one of their Grade 2 students, Clara, accesses treatment there.
Clara has had to endure several operations and travels to the centre yearly to see her team.
Zanatta says with the final amount, the school has earned a golden cape for its efforts, but she says it’s’ the kids who won by getting the chance to be superheroes all last week.
“The total fundraising amount was $1956.46 – which is nearly double what our goal of $1000 was.
“To raise $1000, you receive a gold cape – and this was something that we wanted to work towards as a school – to put in a shadow box at the entrance of our school as a reminder of our efforts!”
“This year was our most successful year of funds raised – in such unprecedented times – it is so incredible to see such a positive community come together for such a cause! This year even saw a restriction of how funds were generated – completely cashless. The options to donate were through the campaign website or through School Cash Online. Each class also reached and surpassed their fundraising goal of $100!”
Stephane Prevost, the Principal, also had words of support.
“We have received an overwhelming response from our school community with their generous donations and support. Although we were challenged to only accept donations made directly through the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital or our School Cash Online because of the current restrictions, donations still came flooding in. On behalf of the Our Lady of Lourdes School Team, I would like to thank all that were able to make contributions to the “Capes for Kids” campaign.”
Sue Ryan-MacDonald, Early Childhood Educator has been a part of this fantastic initiative since our school has been involved. “Capes for Kids began in Our Lady of Lourdes F.I when Clara joined our Kindergarten class. It was an entire school event and we all wore capes that day. Clara’s mom, Kelly, visited our class and informed us about Clara’s condition. The class was super supportive of Clara and made sure to keep Clara safe. Since the beginning, we have raised funds for the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Centre. Clara has had to endure several operations and travels to the centre to see her team yearly. Even in the pandemic, we were able to host this fundraiser having donations made online and holding a canteen for the students to buy treats credited to their accounts( covid rules applied) . A great big thank you to Tim Hortons for their support and the wonderful administration who made it all possible to support our very own superhero, Clara!”
