LEAP high school students raise $1600 in two hours for ELRA campaign

September 17, 2010

Over 200 students from LEAP Academy University Charter School walked from their high school to the Camden waterfront in order to raise support for the CSUCL’s new “birth to age five” learning center called the Early Learning Research Academy (ELRA). 

Accompanied by LEAP teachers and staff, students each donated $1.00 to the campaign and walked down Cooper Street towards the Adventure Aquarium and Campbell’s Field carrying a banner donning the ELRA name. 

On the way they passed by ELRA’s future site and the temporary trailers that currently house two of ELRA’s six preschool classrooms.  The completed ELRA facility will create a permanent home for these classrooms and the 90 preschool children in them. 

The walk was commissioned by the ELRA capital fundraising campaign’s leadership committee and organized by Elayne Sama, an English teacher at LEAP Academy High School who is leading the ELRA campaign’s student fundraising efforts. 

The “dollar-by-dollar” campaign offers LEAP high school students several opportunities to donate $1.00 in exchange for certain “perks”, such as walking to the waterfront, wearing their gym uniform instead of their school uniform, or purchasing items like CDs or pretzels. 

Friday morning’s effort raised $821.00, and with a pledge from the Kresge Foundation to match the amount, the event fundraised a total of $1,642.00 in only two hours. 

>> Click here to learn more about how you can donate to the ELRA campaign.