Simpson Elementary PTA Thanks Public for Successful Race for Education Jog-A-Thon Fundraiser
By Connect-Bridgeport Staff on October 19, 2024
The Simpson Elementary PTA wishes to thank the community for its support of its Oct. 10 Race for Education Jog-A-Thon Fundraiser. Each year, the PTA partners with an established Pennsylvania company to launch its fundraising event, including a donation website. Simpson PTA began this fundraiser in 2018. After taking a brief break due to COVID, the PTA resumed the event last fall.
This year, the fundraiser went live on Sept. 16, 2024. Since then, students have been asking local businesses, family and friends to sponsor them by making a donation (of any amount) to the PTA. Students not only earn prizes based on the number (not dollar amount) of sponsor donations, but every student in the school also participated in the Race for Education Jog-A-Thon, a fun event where they walked, jogged, ran or danced in celebration of their hard work. Students also enjoyed a healthy snack provided by McDonalds. 
Simpson PTA is an active non-profit organization. Last year, it organized approximately 16 different events and/or programs for the student body. This year, in addition to the existing events and programs it provides to the students, Simpson PTA has added a few new fundraising goals that it hopes to achieve.
Purchasing STEM items for classroom use (such as robotics kits for students to learn about coding), planning a Spring Family Fun Day event to encourage parent engagement, and hosting a school-wide "Supermarket Science" STEM assembly.
To fund these new goals, along with their existing events and programs, Simpson PTA set a goal of $15,000. It met this goal in approximately two weeks and moved on to its challenge goal of $20,000 which was met Oct. 9 thanks to students, families and friends, and the community.
The Race for Education Fundraiser always receives a positive response because students are not required to sell anything and sponsors can choose the amount they feel comfortable giving. Many years ago, Simpson PTA recognized the constant requests to parents and guardians to support frundraisers throughout the year, which is one of the reasons it has continued to return to Race for Education and the one fundraiser approach. Race for Education promotes effortless support and encourages participation by a larger audience, including family and friends, near and far, as well as by the community. Another great benefit to the fundraiser is that it culminates in a celebration, the Jog-A-Thon gets the children moving, promoting healthy living.
The students enjoy working their way through the prize package that is offered as a part of the fundraiser. These prizes include treasure box prizes, passes for sitting with a friend at lunch/lunch with a teacher, homework passes, gift cards donated by local businesses and many others. The students also have the opportunity to win one of two grand prizes, which are Nintendo Switches.
Simpson PTA is grateful to those businesses who have donated gift cards and prizes to reward the students for their hard work, including Mountain Man Axe Throwing Bridgeport, Planet X Adventures, Retro Skate (Fairmont), Cinemark, Tygart Valley Cinemas (Fairmont), Crunch Time Gourmet Popcorn & Apples, Ella's Playtown and Insight Astronomy LLC. 
Simpson PTA is also grateful to the many businesses who value education in our community and want to support the PTA's work. Simpson PTA has received donations from Black Level Sponsor ($500) City Construction Company and Red Level Sponsors ($250 to $499) Mountaineer Orthodontics - Drs. Weidman & Hazey III, Pediatric & Adolescent Dentistry - Moe Momen, DDS and BHE GT&S. Additionally, numerous other local businesses have also donated to this year's fundraiser, including RDR, Trilogy Innovations, J. Robey Law, Sanders
Orthodontics, Half Dozen Family Farm, Bel Meadows Fishing Preserve, C&J Investments, All Smiles Dental and Allen Funeral Home, Inc.
Each year, Simpson PTA is amazed by the amount of support shown to its mission to enrich the educational experiences of the students at Simpson Elementary. To show its gratitude for this support, Simpson PTA's board and members continue to dedicate hours of work each week to accomplish the many projects and events it offers.
Though Simpson PTA's fundraising goals have been met, it is never too late to donate to Simpson Elementary PTA and/or support a specific project or event. Donations can be made by mailing a check (made payable to Simpson Elementary PTA) or online at www.race4ed.com/ses. If you have any questions about the fundraiser or Simpson Elementary PTA, please contact it by email at simpsonelempta@gmail.com.
