On Valentine’s Day, a Chairville Elementary School fourth-grade class worked together to touch the hearts of others outside their own community.
Dana Carmody-Burns’ fourth-grade class held an exer-thon on Feb. 14 to raise money for a nonprofit called David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation. The foundation raises money for New Jersey families affected by a loved one with cancer. The project was part of a school-wide event to involve the students in service projects on Valentine’s Day.
Carmody-Burns has an existing relationship with the foundation’s founder, David Caldarella. The two had worked a summer job together at a restaurant in Manahawkin. Shortly before the fundraiser, Caldarella received a call from Carmody-Burns about getting him involved.
“When she started thinking about the service project, she thought about the foundation I was in and thought it would be a good tie-in for my kids,” Caldarella said.
To prepare for the event, Carmody-Burns talked to the room parents in the class for ideas. Not only did she want the students to raise money for the foundation, she also wanted to create an event the kids would enjoy.
Heather Sharnoff, a room parent for the class, helped brainstorm the event. The parents organized an exer-thon that could be held in the school’s cafeteria.
“Because of being winter and all of the snow, it wasn’t like we could do something outside,” Sharnoff said. “So they can pick the hula hooping or they can jog for 30 minutes.”
Sharnoff got the paperwork organized for the kids. Because the event was organized hastily and due to snow days, there was not a lot of time for the kids to raise money.
“When the paperwork actually went out for the contest, it was Feb. 3 because of all the snow days and they had to return their envelope by Feb. 12,” Sharnoff said.
Sharnoff drew up a chart to track the money raised. The chart topped off at $700, as Sharnoff didn’t expect them to go beyond it from the beginning.
Once Feb. 14 rolled around, the class had raised $2,010.
“It was amazing how much money the kids raised,” Sharnoff said.
All the money donated went to David’s Dream and Believe Cancer Foundation, a nonprofit group Caldarella started in 2010 when he was battling stage four head and neck cancer.
“I had received tremendous support through a year-long battle for myself, and I just wanted a way to pay it back,” Caldarella said.
Unlike foundations whose main focus is on research, Caldarella wanted to help families and loved ones directly affected by cancer. He said the disease can really affect others in more ways than one.
“What I realized also going through it myself, not only is cancer physically and emotionally draining, but obviously there’s the financial end of it,” he said. “There’s really not many organizations that help patients directly with funds. So we thought it was a good way to help communicate with other patients in the battle.”
Carmody-Burns’ fourth-grade class helped Caldarella’s cause immensely. Not only did the class raise money, they also touched Caldarella with their understanding and compassion.
“The kids get it and they also know that it could be their neighbor, it could be their mom’s friends, it could be an acquaintance,” he said.
For more information on the foundation and to donate, visit davidsdreamandbelieve.org.
