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Mecca Glen students jump to keep hearts pumping

Jump Rope for Heart at Mecca Glen School keeps kids jumping and raising money.
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Up in the air - Mecca Glen School teacher Jenny Ronnie jumps rope while another student tries a few tricks Tuesday

Students at Mecca Glen School once again showed their commitment to good causes by raising funds for the Heart and Stroke Foundation with a Jump Rope for Heart campaign.

The event was held Tuesday, May 12 at the school and was the culmination of several weeks of fundraising for the foundation, says organizer and Grade 2/3 teacher, Lorraine Stevenson.

While the final dollar amount was not available at press time, Stevenson said the community really comes together for the project and they usually raise more than $2,000.

She says the goal is to have students become global citizens with the fundraiser, and to keep them active and moving. During the Jump Rope for Heart event, students skipped ropes, played Double-Dutch, basketball, twirled hula-hoops and even tried out a few large team rope efforts.

“It works really well with our curriculum,” said Stevenson.

Students then did as many skips as possible and kept track of the number. Stevenson said it has become a fun day for students to get outside and be active. Teachers joined in on the fun and played alongside students.

Stevenson said parents are a big support for the program and while many of the pledges were made online, the parent community still helps out in other areas.

Jump Rope for Heart statistics

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has invested nearly $3 million in research on the topic of children and youth physical activity in the last eight years.

Foundation spending

For every dollar that is spent with the Heart and Stroke Foundation, 54 cents goes to the mission: of that 23 cents is spent on research, which funds almost 1,500 researchers across Canada. And 31 cents goes to health promotion such as risk assessment and advocacy.

As for the rest, 39 cents is invested in fundraising and managing a large number of programs. Seven cents goes to administration costs.