Red Cross Walkathon raised $70K; had 2,800 walkers

The American Red Cross-NMI Chapter’s signature fundraising event, the 29th Annual Red Cross Walkathon, raised a total of $70,000. The 2015 edition of the walkathon was held last March 21 and attracted more than 2,800 participants.

The local chapter of the American Red Cross said that fundraising totals and the number of participants were both up from last year’s numbers.

In 2014, a total of 2,512 took part in the walkathon and raised $65,000. The walkathon’s 2013 edition raised $67,000, albeit with more participants at 3,150 walkers.

The school that came with the largest contingent was Oleai Elementary School with 398 students, followed by William S. Reyes Elementary School with 206 students, and Koblerville Elementary School with 160 students.

OES and WSR also had the largest number of participants last year.

Schools with the largest amount of donations included OES with $11,080.63, good for first place. WSR came in second with $4,316.60, and San Vicente Elementary School came third with $4,009.15.

The CNMI Head Start Program also had its fair share of winners. JMR Head Start Center came in both first place for the largest number of walkers and largest donation. They raised $1,294.25 and had 60 walkers.

Students from various schools also raised hundreds of dollars themselves. OES’ Isabel Carreon raised the most once again with $643, followed by Mt. Carmel School’s Matthew Sablan, who also won last year, with $400; OES’ Madilyn Flores, $346.37; OES’ Jonathan Lisua, $295; Whispering Palms School’s Katie Rose James, $292; Brilliant Star’s Conall KW Hartig, $290, and Agape Christian School’s Yete Zhang, $287.91.

They will each receive a Pacific Islands Club Waterpark pass, $5 gift card from Subway, Regal/Hollywood Theater tickets, and a McDonald’s gift certificate for raising over $75.

Individuals and businesses were awarded as well: Chris Tenorio received first place for donating $217, while Fiesta Resort and Spa won first place for the largest number of participants.

In an earlier interview, ARC-NMI Chapter executive director John Hirsh said the donations will be used for the chapter’s working fund, which finances their various programs that benefit the community, including first aid and CPR certification courses, disaster response, and emergency preparedness.

Contributions that were collected was a result of the ARC-NMI Chapter’s collaboration not only with the Public School System and private schools in the Commonwealth but also with various organizations that joined and community members from Saipan, Rota, and Tinian as well.

The ARC-NMI Chapter would also like to thank all of their business partners, donors, school coordinators and volunteers for their dedication to helping the Red Cross. Special thanks goes out to the CNMI Public School System leadership and their support for the annual event. Extra special recognition goes to Diana Camacho from Ayuda Network for keeping the partners and agencies up to date prior to the walkathon.