RUMSON —Holy Cross School held a Cardboard Arcade Day fundraiser, which was hosted by the school’s fourth-grade students. The event featured more than 20 games that students created, including an Alpine Slide, which students built with cardboard boxes.
Proceeds from the charity event will benefit the Hundred Pump Project — a collaboration between Design Outreach, World Vision and private donors — to install 100 Life Pumps in five African countries this year. The pumps provide long-lasting, clean water for tens of thousands of people in African villages.
The young entrepreneurs exceeded their fundraising goal of $1,000. After a preview Arcade Day for families, donations started coming in from parents, and an anonymous donor offered to match the amount raised.
The project was a valuable learning opportunity for the fourth-graders who created posters and spoke to each class to promote the event and create awareness of the need for clean water in African villages.
“We learned about Guinea worm disease that affects African communities that do not have safe water to drink and read the book ‘A Long Walk to Water,’ ” fourth-grade teacher Maryjane Gallo said in a press release. “We try to support whatever the children choose for their charitable project and make it more meaningful.”
The idea for the charity began as a dinner table conversation in the home of fourth-grade student Paige Jaenicke. Her father,
Brian, heard a presentation at his workplace about the Hundred Pump Project, and Paige was inspired to meet with the school’s principal to talk about the project.
“I couldn’t believe people didn’t have water,” Paige said in the press release. “So I thought we could do something about it.”
She then enlisted the help of friends to lobby for the charity and Gallo, who suggested the arcade.
For more information, visit www.holycrossschoolrumson.org.

