Elementary school students raise money for burn victims
Pictured are students from the Monterey Road Elementary School 5th Grade Student Council and members of the Atascadero Fire and Emergency Services. The Student Council are, from left to right, Carly Evans, Lauren Smith, Brad Capriotti and Jaden Taylor. Firefighters from left to right, Engineer/Paramedic Chris Robinson, Seasonal Firefighter Nathan Goossens and Fire Captain/Paramedic Bill White.
Students raise over $600
–Students at Monterey Road Elementary School in Atascadero recently raised more than $600 to help children who have suffered burn injuries. The Monterey Road students timed their fundraising with two local events – Fire Prevention Week and the Burn Relay Parade – to collect donations to help send a child to a camp sponsored by the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.
The Monterey Road Elementary School Student Council sprang into action with the idea of using firefighter boots as a collection point. The students borrowed boots from Atascadero Fire and Emergency Services and placed one in each classroom at their school. At the end of two weeks, the Student Council collected the boots and counted up all of the donations. The students could not have been happier to discover their efforts produced $628.38 in donations.
“Our students are very proud of how much money they raised for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation,” said Monterey Road principal Julie Davis. “Our Student Council showed true leadership and understood the money they were raising would benefit burn survivors and their families,” said Davis.
Every October, fire and emergency service departments throughout San Luis Obispo County participate in an annual Burn Relay Parade to raise money for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation. The foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission of enhancing the quality of life for burn survivors and promoting burn prevention education. The funding raised each year goes to recreational programs such as Champ Camp and outreach and support programs for burn survivors and their families. The Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation has partnered with the California Fire Service in the hope of preventing as many burn-related deaths and injuries as possible.
The Burn Relay coincides with National Fire Prevention Week, where fire service organizations visit elementary schools and stress fire safety, education and prevention. Students are taught at an early age the importance of fire safety and what they can do to prevent fires from happening. Unfortunately, even with aggressive fire prevention and education programs, too many children are still burned in house fires and from other causes.
