St. Lazare walkathon fundraiser for Moosomin CT Scanner fund
September 3, 2024, 2:52 pm
Ashley Bochek
École St. Lazare in St. Lazare, Manitoba is holding their annual walkathon on Friday, September 6. The school has chosen to support the CT Scanner fund in Moosomin with the funds raised from the walk.
Richard Fiola, principal of École St. Lazare says they have a Walk-A-Thon each year to support local fundraisers.
“We do a walkathon every year. We used to do it for cancer care in Russell, but now it is all built so last year we changed it a bit. We did a walk in memory of the resource teacher that passed in the last two years, and we did a fundraiser for the school under her name.
“This fall we will be doing the same Walk-A-Thon for the CT Scanner fund in Moosomin.”
Fundraiser for health care services
Fiola says the Walk-A-Thon supports a different health care project each year.
“We always do something related to health care so it is a tradition here that at the beginning of the school year we have a fundraiser.”
He says the school has hosted a walk for many years. “We have been doing it for a long time. It was the Terry Fox run that we switched over for local projects. So we have been doing them for the past 25 years or so.”
Community event
Fiola says the walk is followed by a community barbecue.
“It is Friday, September 6 in the afternoon. We will have a community barbecue over lunch and whoever wants to join the kids for the walk after can. We usually have parents, grandparents, relatives, and people from the community that come for the barbecue and they join the walk to support the kids and the fundraiser.”
Saskatchewan students at École St. Lazare
Fiola says the school has Saskatchewan students from the area.
“We heard there was a fundraiser with the hospital in Moosomin and since we have a good portion of students from Saskatchewan we wanted to help out this year in Moosomin. We also have a lot of people from Lazare who travel to Moosomin for health appointments and treatments.”
He says St. Lazare has students from Moosomin, Welwyn, and Rocanville.
“It is for the French Education. We have a family coming from Moosomin, families from Welwyn, and from Rocanville. So they’re all bussed in. We have two bus routes on that side of the border. It is an agreement between the two provinces since there is not a French school in this area of Saskatchewan so they can come to our school and they’re fully funded like a Manitoba student.”
Fiola explains there are buses for the Saskatchewan students.
“For the family in Moosomin that comes here for school, it’s a teacher who works here, so she brings her kids so there is no bus for them, but for all the other students we have two bus routes in Saskatchewan for our school.”
There is an agreement between Saskatchewan and Manitoba that allows border towns to use services closest to them.
“It is the same for the border towns with health and dental, we can go with our Manitoba card to Saskatchewan,” Fiola explained. “It is an agreement between provinces for health and education. That is why it is not only for the Saskatchewan residents. People from Lazare do go to Moosomin hospital and to see doctors.”
CT Scanner important for St. Lazare people
Fiola says the CT Scanner in Moosomin would be closer for St. Lazare people to travel to for health emergencies.
“It’s much closer because otherwise we would have to go to Brandon—it is close to two hours for us to get there. We prefer and encourage closer services for the health of our people.”
Community involvement
Fiola says they hold a Walk-A-Thon fundraiser to model community involvement for the students.
“It is to show kids that you give to your community and you get involved in your community.
“Whenever there is special projects like the CT Scanner fund in Moosomin it is important to make them aware of the impacts of having services like that or having special treatment centres in our area so we don’t have to travel more than an hour or so. It helps keep our communities up-to-date and provide the best services we can.”
He says the school has previously helped raise funds for the Southeast Integrated Care Centre in Moosomin.
“Andrea Chipelski that is in charge of the Walk-A-Thon, has said that in the past we have done a fundraiser for the Southeast Integrated Care Centre in Moosomin as well. So this is not the first time we have done something for your area.”
Fiola explains the Walk-A-Thon has raised lots of money in the past. “Last year was a special one because we had a special fund for the school with a big committee and lots of contacts, and we did raise $15,000 but that was exceptional.
“That was in the memory of the lady who had passed the year before—the resource teacher in the school and everyone knew her so that’s why they chipped in and made a fund for our school.”
Fiola says the Walk-A-Thon is a great community fundraiser.
“We have a pre-Kindergarten program so some four year olds until high school, grade 12. There is about 80 students and 20 staff members. So close to 100 people in our school regularly and then we have the parents, grandparents, and people from the community at our barbecue so usually there is about 200 people out. It is always a good fundraiser for the community.”
