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The Oakville Beaver, W e d n e sd a y M a rc h 20, 2002 · C3 St. Vincent School adopts Kids for Kedzi school project, raise almost $4,000 By Mary Collett S P E C IA L T O T H E B E A V E R Reunion for Perdue grads from 1980, 1981 and 1982 The upcoming Gordon E. Perdue High School 'I Am So There!' Reunion on Saturday June 8 has moved to Sharkey's for a party starting at 7:30 p.m. Originally it was to have been held at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School - formerly Perdue. The reunion organizing committee is looking for Perdue graduates of 1980. 1981 and 1982. In order to make this evening a suc cess, a lot of planning is required and organizers ask Perdue grads RSVP to b.chisholm@nortelnetworks.com if you have not already done so. Include a little blurb on yourself including such things as what you've done since graduation, if you married, if you have children and basically what you've been doing with your life. If you have questions or concerns, contact Brenda Chisholm (nee McCraney) at b.chisholm@nortelnetworks.com, telephone: 905-639-4568; or contact Sian Frost (nee Lewis) at sianf@mac.com: or Shelley Sharpen at Ssharpen@CPCPumps.com. Mardi Gras came to Oakville recent ly as the students o f St. Vincent School hosted a gala dance-a-thon to help raise funds for their adopted Kids for Kedzi project. Kedzi, a small town in Ghana, situat ed on the West coast of Africa, has sus tained numerous losses over the past several years as a result of Hooding and erosion. Though the local school is still standing, it will likely soon be lost to the sea. The severe flooding and erosion of the area has also resulted in drastic decreases in school enrollment, with the number o f students dropping from 700 to 350. Kedzi's plight was brought to the attention of the St. Vincent community by Dr. Rob Naim, the parent of a St. Vincent student, and an employee of Baird & Associates, an engineering and construction firm that has been working since 1996 to protect the area from fur ther erosion. Why would a relatively small school in Oakville rally students, staff and par ents to assist in a partnership with a fair ly remote and unknown community located miles across the Atlantic Ocean on another continent? Naim explained that the decision to enlist support for the project was inspired initially by the friendliness and enthusiasm of the residents, particular ly. the children. "Isolated as the area is, the local community is very committed to the education of their young, and the school has been a focal point for the communi ty since the 1930s," he continued. Naim related that the students would approach the construction team and ask for their pens and paper, occasionally food, but never money. "The community has no running water, no sewage and no electricity," he added. "They have very little in the way o f personal possessions, and yet they are some of the happiest people we have ever encountered anywhere." Despite the vast distance, both geo graphically and conceptually, between Kedzi and Oakville. St. Vincent School undertook the project as a way o f dem onstrating comm itm ent to the notion of a global community. Since the spring of 2001, St. Vincent students have been exchanging letters with their Kedzi counterparts, raising funds and awareness through a variety of school-centred projects, as well as packaging and sending over school sup plies, including the much-coveted pens and paper. The Mardi Gras dance-a-thon was the latest effort in a series fundraising initiatives that united the entire school community in a heart warming show of spirit and enthusiasm. The school gym, gaily decorated in purple, green and gold, the colours of Mardi Gras, was awash in a sea of dan gling streamers and bulging balloons. Students, staff and parents alike, danced en masse to the Latin rhythms of the Macarena . sharing in a celebration that has been enjoyed for centuries world wide: the traditional "last hurrah" pre ceding the arrival of the more sober sea son cl' Lent. Victoria De Wildt. co-chair of the fundnising committee for St. Vincent Schcul was delighted with the outcome. `We raised almost $4.0(X) that will go directly to our Kids for Kedzi proj ect," she announced. Fellow chair. Brenda Barrington was equally pleased with the results of everyone's hard work and cooperation. "It couldn't have gone better," she beamed, while surveying the slightly bedraggled aftermath of the day's events. The money raised was hand-deliv ered to the Kedzi project by St. Vincent School Principal. Suzanne Rossini, at a land-allotment ceremony held at the site of the soon to be constructed school in Kedzi. Rossini brought with her a variety of items identifying the character o f Oakville's St. Vincent School: posters and bookmarks designed by the chil dren. Canadian flags and mementos, greetings from the Halton Catholic District School Board's Director of Education Lou Piovesan. and items for the teachers in Kedzi. "I believe that the success of the fundraiser was because the students undertook the Kids for Kedzi project, and the energy and enthusiasm shown today were tremendous," Rossini said as the festivities wound down. "The kids understood this commitment," she added, "and devoted themselves whole- Barrie Erskine · Oakville Beaver H olding the cheque representing the proceeds from a recent M ardi G ras dance-a-thon at St. Vincent School to raise funds for a school in Kedzi. G h an a, a re from left, students Rachel P etford and M itchell Steggerda, A ndrea N aird, p aren t volunteer, and P rincipal Suzanne Rossini of St. V incent School. "Within the entire school communi make the dream of a sturdy new school heartedly to the project." ty. the bonds are strengthened by work At St. Vincent School, and now at a reality for the people of Kedzi. ing towards a common goal." she con Rossini believes that the ongoing Oakville's St. Luke School as well, future plans are already underway to collaboration will continue to reap cluded. "We know we can make a difference continue in the support of this project, reciprocal benefits for the Oakville stu for the students in Kedzi." for more funds are urgently needed to dents. HaltonSearch.cYm SALE PRICES END SUNDAY. MARCH 24. 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