College students raise funds for animal welfare

THERE were big smiles and cute dogs as Geelong College students hit the pavement by the Barwon River to raise money for Geelong Animal Welfare Society (GAWS).

The ‘Mirri Mates’ – the name of the Grade 3 cohort – have been learning about communities of gratitude, which led to the PAWS for GAWS 5km sponsored walk.

Grade 3 student Clemmy Moar said it was the best morning ever.

“We left school about 9am and met up with our friends and family, some with waggy tails and wet noses at the river track,” she said.

“There were heaps of dogs, in fact there were three dachshunds, my dog Ernie was one of them!

“We were all wearing our special T-shirts, designed to make us stand out. Excited and proud we set off, showing the world that little people can do big things!”

The students were tasked with writing letters, outlining the reasons why someone should be a sponsor.

“We invited our families and friends to donate $5 for 5kms. We used our maths brains and calculated that if everybody raised $50, we could raise $3,000… maybe even more!,” Clemmy said.

“We wrote (hopefully) convincing letters to get sponsorship, while we also wrote lists of names for little kitties for a lady named Shelley who works at GAWS as a kitty career.”

The students also had a lunchtime stall selling homemade toffees to raise money for GAWS.

Deputy Principal Simon Young said the school raised about $5,000.

“What began as a modest goal to raise $600 by walking 5km quickly transformed into a phenomenal $5,000 contribution [to GAWS]. Their kindness, amplified by purpose, is a beautiful reflection of the values we seek to instill at The Geelong College.”