Abingdon Trike-a-Thon

Thanks to a little pedal pushing, students at Kiddie Academy of Abingdon in Maryland raised more than $10,000 for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

The money was raised during a “Trike-a-Thon” hosted by the Academy on April 12.

“We feel it is important that we teach children about the different ways of giving and supporting the community throughout the year,” said Academy Director Heather Schorah. “Around the holiday season, we participated in several community events like the food drive and coat drive. A spring event supporting children seemed like a great fit, so when St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital called to see if we wanted to host a Trike-A-Thon, we knew this would be the perfect event.”

Schorah said the Academy community quickly rose to the challenge. “We shared the event with the children and families and were amazed at how quickly we raised money. St.

Jude’s set an original goal of $1,200, which we doubled in the first day. Then, we increased our goal to $10,000!”

Schorah described the emotions at the Academy on the day of the event. “All of the children were excited about the money they were raising; about how they were helping other children; and they loved bringing their bikes and helmets to school to show their friends and teachers. The staff and parent volunteers had so much fun watching the smiles and laughs of the children and enjoyed helping them learn ride their bikes.”

“’Community Begins Here’ is more than just a slogan for us,” Schorah emphasized. “It’s rooted in everything we do and what we teach the children.”