Catena School comes through for charities

Diana Scalici, 10, does the “Cotton-Eye Joe” with other fifth-graders during a special fund-raiser at the Catena School, Freehold Township.

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The PTO at the Joseph J. Catena School, Burlington Road, sponsored a walk-a-thon to raise money for several local charities.

The students raised more than $23,000 which was donated to the Freehold First Aid and Emergency Squad, the Michael Curtin Scholarship Fund, the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the Autism Society of America and the Joseph J. Catena Music Department.

The walk-a-thon was held May 30 at the school from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Each grade had its own time slot. In addition, the students collected peanut butter, jelly and Fluff for the Open Door Food Pantry in Freehold and built a castle using the plastic jars. The peanut butter, jelly and Fluff castle was erected on the stage in the cafeteria.

Jackie Rapisarda, the parent of a fourth-grader and the PTO liaison to the walk-a-thon committee, said the children collected $23,233 in pledges. She said 563 students, or 93.8 percent of the student body, participated in the event. They collected more than 2,000 sponsors and did a total of 17,133 laps on the lawn in front of the school.

Patty Trebour (l) marks off a completed lap on Ricky Montetonico’s card for a walk-a-thon the 11-year-old participated in at the school.

"It was great day. Besides the walk-a-thon, there were field day events like softball, soccer, races, a tug-of-war and a picnic lunch," she said.

— Linda DeNicola

Jodie Hansen, 10, participates in a race during fund-raising activities at the school May 30. Joe Fitzgerald, 9, was among the Catena School pupils who participated in the field day activities during a charity fund-raiser May 30.