Students Working to Raise Funds for Haiti
Calling it “the biggest event of the year,” Montclair Kimberley Academy Middle School Student Government is hard at work planning the annual Students vs. Faculty Basketball game for charity; an event that traditionally draws a huge audience and results in a nail-biting contest most often won by the students.
This year’s extravaganza, to be held on Friday, February 5 at 6:30 p.m., will benefit Partners in Health and their work in Haiti. In deciding a charity, students make individual presentations on their charities of choice, which Student Government then vote on in a secret ballot. Last year, over $10,000 was raised for Juvenile Diabetes, and this year, students were interested in supporting an international charity. “In light of what has happened in Haiti, the student’s choice this year was especially fortuitous, as Partners in Health is on the frontline of the recovery efforts there, having worked in Haiti for over twenty years.” Notes Student Government advisor and 4th grade team leader Laura Lemaire.
The founding of Partners in Health by Dr. Paul Farmer was the subject of Tracy Kidder’s 2003 Pulitzer-winning book Mountains Beyond Mountains and the charity is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people living in poor communities throughout the world. Students and parents, who pay a donation to attend the game, also enjoy a dinner, music and dancing, and have the opportunity to participate in a coin drive and purchase special T-shirts designed by the students.
In addition to this Middle School fundraiser, MKA’s Primary and Upper School Campuses are also supporting the cause through sales of Valentines Day Cards made by Brooksiders and a tri-campus concert organized by the Upper School to be held on February 11. MKA has their own page on the Partners in Health website and all members of the MKA community may make donations to assist the charity’s work at http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/earthquake_group/MKA