Parent+Letter

=**St. Mary's School 3rd Annual Marathon**= =**September 24, 2010 ﻿ **=

**What is the marathon: **
Today we kicked off our 3rd Annual School Marathon. The Minnesota Marathon for Nonpublic Education has generated over $50 million dollars of revenue for nonpublic education in Minnesota since its inception. This is our 3rd year participating in the event. It has proven to be a successful fundraiser for many Catholic Schools in our area. One hundred percent of the money generated goes back to our school.

On Friday, **October 15th** students, teachers, and parents will gather at St. Mary's School at 9:30 A.M/ for a pepfest in the gym. Students will take buses down to Morehouse Park to begin their walk. (put where each is walking?) We encourage parents to join their child(ren) in this fun, healthy fundraising event! Our Kindergartners will be walking around our block. 

**Getting Pledges:** Students are bringing home a pledge sheet today and are asked to get donations from family, friends, and neighbors over the next two (3?) weeks. We suggest that younger students be accompanied by an adult or older sibling. 

**Marathon Incentives:** Our incentives are outlined on a separate sheet. We rely on motivating each individual students, classrooms, and the whole student body with these incentives rather than buying expensive prizes. The bulletin board in the connecting hallway will be used to track our progress. Anything you can do to motivate your child and support our efforts is appreciated. 

**What about matching funds?** Many employers have a "matching funds" policy and this is an easy way to increase our profits. Please check with your employer. 

**Marathon Goal:** We have set our school goal at $24,000 which is ambitious, but we think attainable. **All** funding (money) raised goes directly to St. Mary's School.