Photo Courtesy of Ryan Stanley Above, students take off at the start of the Color Run at Kelly Elementary School. At right, students make their way through obstacles during the Color Run at Kelly Elementary School.
Above, students take off at the start of the Color Run at Kelly Elementary School. At right, students make their way through obstacles during the Color Run at Kelly Elementary School.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — Kelly Elementary School held a Color Run on May 5 as a fundraiser sponsored by the PTA.
Students navigated an obstacle course on the school field while volunteers tossed clouds of brightly colored dust in their paths.
Color Runs, increasingly popular in the United States over the past decade, are partly inspired by the Hindu festival of Holi, which is celebrated in spring and involves, among other traditions, friends and family spraying colored water solutions at each other.
“We are always looking for new and exciting ways to engage our school community and support our students,” said Tai Carr-Fraser, the Kelly PTA’s vice-president of membership and the lead organizer of the event.
As with a traditional walkathon, participants were challenged to seek sponsors for the Color Run. The PTA set a fundraising target of $20,000, and students raised almost $25,000.
The top fundraisers, siblings Ashlee and Marcel Lubin, marked the event’s success by dumping buckets of green slime on Kelly Principal David Marion at an assembly held on Monday, May 8. Top-raising students at each grade level won prize baskets and high-earning classes received movie parties.
“We are beyond excited to not only have met our goal but to have exceeded it,” said Kelly PTA President Nathalie Lubin. “This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and it allows us to provide valuable programming to the Kelly community, including expanding after-school enrichment, movie night, teacher appreciation week, and much more.”
The PTA reached out to the broader West Orange community to help run the event. Members of local Boy Scout Troop 2 helped to design and assemble the obstacle course, working with a group of parent volunteers.
West Orange High School students joined Kelly’s teachers, staff and parents in dusting the participants with a dye and corn starch mixture while they jumped hurdles, pushed through balloon obstacles and army-crawled under colorful ribbons. Several local businesses provided sponsorship, including Fortissimo Pizzeria/Osteria, the MAX Challenge of West Orange, and BellsFit60.
“I want to give a big shout-out to our generous donors and local businesses who supported our event with their donations and sponsorships,” said Carr-Fraser.
“Without their support, we wouldn’t have been able to make this event such a huge success. Additionally, our dedicated team of event volunteers worked tirelessly to make my vision a reality and ensure everything ran smoothly.”
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