This summer a large number of Calvert students participated in a wonderful charitable endeavor spear-headed by Dr. Martire's wife, Eva. The project is called Our Children Making Change and it is a program designed as a way for children of all ages to contribute to charities in their communities through raising money. In early June, almost 100 children gathered in the Middle School Gym to select the charities for which they felt a passion. Five charities were picked by the group: The Cool Kids Campaign (which provides kids with cancer a higher quality of life for themselves and their families while facing the challenges of cancer), the Esperanza Center (providing a wide range of services to new immigrants to the Baltimore Metropolitan Area), the mdSPCA (which improves the lives of pets and people in the community), BARCS (which works directly with Baltimore City Animal Control to provide a sanctuary for all animals and to promote a more humane community), and CATRA (which provides recreational and therapeutic horseback riding to physically- and mentally-challenged people of all ages).
At the first meeting, each participating child agreed to raised $100.00 over the summer by doing age appropriate activities. The fund raising efforts included lemonade and bake sales, movie nights, ice cream making and bike-a-thons (just to name a few). All told, by the end of the summer, the children as a group were able to raise almost $11,000.00 and they were able to give each of their selected charities over $2000.00. All who participated were extremely proud of their efforts and at the end of the summer, the children enjoyed a wonderful celebration marked by the presence of the charities for which the money was raised! Bravo to all those who participated.
