Glenmuir to host COVID fundraising telethon on Saturday

Glenmuir High School in Clarendon is set to host its first telethon on Saturday under the theme, 'Rising above COVID for a better beyond'.

Each year, the Florida chapter of the Past Students' Association stages a myriad of events geared at generating funds for its welfare and scholarship programmes.

With the COVID-19 pandemic crippling various sectors, stakeholders were forced to tap into their creativity to find ways to host the fundraising event.

The decision was made to host a global virtual telethon aimed at raising much-needed funds.

In 2019, students benefited from scholarships totalling US$17,000.

This year, proceeds will also go to the school's COVID response initiative.

"We are very passionate about this event as we want to be able to continue our efforts in reaching out to the most vulnerable among us. Funds will go towards improving the school's Internet connectivity, provide gadgets to staff and students to support the teaching-learning process, extend classroom spaces, provide care packages and the purchase of personal protective equipment." said principal, Dr Marsha Smalling.

Florida chapter president, Norman Archer, told The Gleaner that the event is a collaborative effort of all the chapters to achieve what he described as a "mammoth affair".

"Normally, we would have our weekend of activities: dinner, dance, brunch, etc, but based on the COVID situation those are out the window. Over the years, we've had everybody from the different chapters coming in to support our fundraiser, so we had to figure out a way to continue doing some fundraising because the need is still there, and with COVID it's even worse."

According to Archer, the school has started construction to expand classrooms in keeping with physical-distancing protocols.

This project, he said, has further dented the school's finances.

Meanwhile, Sherine Sutherland, president of the Toronto chapter, said, "COVID-19 hit hard and we’ve all been impacted. We quickly realised it was time to tap into our resilience. We saw the need to respond to the challenges of safely reopening the school, to provide support for students with no access to Internet or a device for online learning, to continue to provide a meal for the student who leaves home with no food or lunch money, because we also realise that some of the hardest hit students are at the secondary level." 

How to participate

Tickets for the event may be purchased online at eventbrite.com for a cost of U$6. Click here for link to website.

The event is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and will go until midnight, with an online after-party.

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