Play Bingo, Have Fun, Help Babies

This Thursday is bingo night at Council Rock North, and with proceeds benefiting the March of Dimes, everybody wins.

“It really is a fun night,” said Cathy Perkins, advisor to the CR North March of Dimes Club that is sponsoring the event along with the National Honor Society (NHS). “The kids really make it special; they come together and are glad to raise money for such a worthy cause.”

Aptly named Bingo for Babies, the third annual event raises funds for the school’s participation in March for Babies on May 1. That’s when the entire Council Rock School District will join more than 7 million people across the nation in a 3 mile walk sponsored by the March of Dimes to support their mission of helping moms have full-term pregnancies and researching the problems that threaten babies’ health.

“Money raised by the March of Dimes has helped create standards and procedures in hospitals so that babies are born healthier -- it is such a worthy cause,” said Perkins.

Bingo for Babies will be held in the CR North cafeteria from 6-8 p.m., promising food, fun and prizes.

“Bingo for Babies is for a good cause, and you can also win some great prizes for yourself at the same time,” said Sara Griswold, a CR North senior co-leading the fundraising committee. “[Prizes] range from gift certificates to Starbucks to tickets to an AHL game. There are so many different prizes that everyone can win something amazing.”
 
The event teaches the high school students involved an important lesson about giving back to the community.

“One of the pillars our students are asked to represent when they become members is service, and this gives them an opportunity to uphold that pillar,” said Kathleen Pagano, NHS co-advisor with Joy Vander Vliet. “I’m so proud of our students -- when they’re given a job to do, they do it wholeheartedly, and they’re working that way with this event to make it a success. I’m hoping we’ll have lots of people attend, so they can see the results.”

“The most rewarding aspect is the fact that we are doing something other than for ourselves,” said Morgan Lewis, a senior and NHS member at CR North. “I can’t wait for our community to join together for a cause. It will be nice to see all of the hard work pay off for this one night to help the March of Dimes.”