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LTSD offers Pink Paws for a Cure

Mauri Rapp Abington Journal Correspondent

Lackawanna Trail School District was in the pink after a recent benefit to help conquer breast cancer. The Pink Paw for a Cure fundraising event kicked off earlier this month with a T-shirt sale in both the high school and elementary school, and culminated with a dance on Oct. 8 for students at the Elementary Center to raise a total of $6,510.80 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

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A "Pink Dance" was held at the Lackawanna Trail Elementary Center on Thursday night, Oct. 8.

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Shown from left are Lackawanna Trail High School junior Michael DelPrete; Andy Dietrick, Allison Mendola, Susan G. Komen Foundation; Event Coordinators Lois Foley and Desiree Gallagher.

Photo Courtesy of Alice Stuffle

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The event started out as a dance held each year at the elementary center by the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization. Three years ago, fifth grade teacher Lois Foley wanted to do a fundraiser for breast cancer, and parent Desiree Gallagher suggested transforming the annual PTO dance into a benefit for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. As a breast cancer survivor, Foley said that the cause is close to her heart. “It feels good to give back and help out,” she said.

This year, the PTO incorporated T-shirt sales into the fundraiser, and the idea has certainly paid off. The dance raised $1,500 for the first year and $2,600 in 2008. However, with the addition of T-shirt sales, the amount raised has more than doubled. Student coordinator Mike Delprete and Andy Dietrick, both of whom are juniors, helped out with T-shirt sales on the high school level. “They have been a tremendous help,” said Foley.

The fundraiser will be part of Delprete and Dietrick’s senior project, and they already have plans to help out with the event next year. “It’s such a simple thing to do,” said Delprete.

“Everybody has had someone in their lives that has been touched by cancer,” added Dietrick. “We knew it would be a cause that everybody could relate to.”

Foley and Gallagher said that one of the reasons the amount raised during the fundraiser is so remarkable is that Lackawanna Trail School District is such a small district, with an average of only 90 to 100 students per grade. Gallagher added that a lot of people help out with the fundraiser through donations, too, including Lackawanna Trail’s PTO, administration, faculty, staff and students.

Marty Whited, owner of Domino’s Pizza in Scranton, donated pizza for the dance, and more than 30 raffle baskets were donated from various sources. Local businesses such as Coleman Contracting also helped out through donations and t-shirt sales, and Kevin’s Wholesale of Scranton offered a hefty discount on the T-shirts too. “Every shirt that we sold made more than half of a profit,” said Dietrick.

Gallagher made particular mention of Lisa Lee Photography, which took fun prop photographs during the dance and donated 100 percent of the proceeds. “All of this was made possible because these people made it possible,” said Gallagher.

According to Allison Mendola, special events coordinator for the Northeastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, while several districts in the area raise money on the high school level each year for the foundation, it was unique to see such a large scale fundraising endeavor on an elementary school level. Mendola said that 75 percent of the proceeds raised will remain in Northeastern Pennsylvania to fund diagnostic mammograms, educational programs and screening for uninsured women and men older than 40, while the remaining 25 percent will go toward Susan G. Komen’s national headquarters for research.