Lily B. Clayton Elementary School’s PTA is purchasing tetherball poles, bike racks and laptop carts with the funds raised by its annual Walkathon.
The seventh annual Walkathon raised $40,500, which surpassed its previous years record of $39,000.
“This year’s event was a huge success,” said Amy Brown, PTA president. “If you’re doing a fundraiser like selling cookie dough or wrapping paper, you don’t get the kind of community involvement that you do with the Walkathon.”
Besides purchasing equipment for the school, the funding provides additional training for teachers, extra books for the library, supplies for the classroom, stipends for teachers, and updates to the playground.
In previous years, the PTA was able to upgrade the soccer field, track and basketball court.
During a two-week period, students asked neighbors, relatives, and friends for donations. There were different incentives for students to bring money for the fundraiser. Among the incentives were a free dress day, an ice cream party and the opportunity to throw a ball at a dunk booth and sink a faculty member.
“We had 546 students walking and 100 volunteers,” said Paul Denney, Walkathon chair. “Of the total students, 340 students donated $40 or more so that they could participate in the dunk booth.”
The walk had a lot of community involvement. Mayor Betsy Price helped start the event while the Paschal High School band played.
The neighborhood mile and a half walk started on the morning of Oct. 16 and concluded with a Family Spirit Night that evening. This was a free event for families and the community to celebrate the success of the fundraiser.
A free dinner was provided along with carnival-themed activities such as face painting, confetti eggs, bounce houses, sporting events and an outdoor movie.
Prior to the Walkathon, Lily B. Clayton and several other elementary schools sold cookie dough and wrapping paper as a fundraiser.
Before 2009 the school made just $7,000 each year selling wrapping paper, said Holly Shipman, the original organizer of the Walkathon. Since moving the fundraiser to a walkathon the school increased profits to $21,000 in the first year.
The school’s second fundraiser is an auction that will be held in the spring on April 23. Brown says that the PTA hopes to raise as much as $80,000.
For more information visit Lily B. Clayton’s website.
