SCHOOL FUNDRAISER: March for Mars gets children moving
ADAMS TWP — Children at Mars Area School District ran, walked, jumped, danced and played outdoors during the annual March for Mars fundraiser Wednesday to raise money for the school district's field trip program.
The fundraiser, which started Wednesday and ends Friday, is run by the Mars Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and is the group's largest fund-gathering event during the year. MASD children spend 30 to 45 minutes running and being active outdoors, and receive prizes and T-shirts for donating to the fundraiser in advance.
Mars Primary Center had its march on Wednesday morning, Mars Area Elementary will get outside on Thursday and Mars Area Centennial School will participate on Friday.
“(The March for Mars) helps us pay for our field trips, the T-shirts that students wear on the trips and the field days,” said Jenna Falkner, president of Mars PTO.
“The event is supposed to encourage (children) to be healthy, get outside and exercise and have fun with their friends,” Falkner said. “Classes come out on a scheduled basis, and parents volunteer to come help encourage them and offer them water if they need it, and keep them continuously moving. It's promoting being healthy and staying active, while also raising money for the field trips.”
Parents are excited to help volunteer for the event again this year, Falkner said.
“We're excited to get back to it and get back to as normal as possible.”
Falkner said this year, during the donation portion of the event before the walk, the March for Mars was able to meet its funding goal to fully fund all field trips, T-shirts and events, a total amounting to more than $35,000.“It's honestly a give-what-you-can fundraiser,” Falkner said. ”None of our fundraisers are mandatory because we appreciate that everybody comes from different circumstances. We let parents know that $30, if they can give that, helps us meet our goal of covering every kid's field trip.”Parents giving more than $30 help to cover for families who might not be able to afford to donate, she explained, and any extra donations help fund other programs run by the PTO.“One of the programs it helps is to go into the teacher reimbursement fund for supplies,” she said. “At the Centennial School we have grade-level parties, and we give each school money for assemblies.”In 2020, Mars students were unable to go on field trips due to COVID-19, and the funds gathered by the PTO — upward of $33,000 — were donated to the district.“We had them booked, but we were able to get refunds, and because we are a nonprofit we don't hold on to that money, so we donated that back to the school,” Falkner said.Previous Marches for Mars have featured business sponsors who support the cost of prizes, but this year the PTO covered the prizes itself.“We would normally be able to have business sponsors, but due to short notice we weren't able to get them, and we felt that it would be in poor taste to ask businesses that have been hurting to donate,” she said.
