On the morning of Friday, September 23, high school students at Rockland District High School (RDHS), L’Ecole Secondaire Catholique de l’Escale, St. Francis Xavier High School (SFX) and l’Ecole Catholique Secondaire de Casselman each organized their own run and raised thousands of dollars to be donated to the Terry Fox Foundation.

Despite taking place nearly half a century ago, the young students still connected with Fox’s message of hope and resilience. For Isabela Da Costa-Werthmüller from RDHS, who was not born and raised in Canada, hearing about the Marathon of Hope from her peers was motivation to help organize her school’s event walking around the school grounds.

“It’s really impressive what he did,” she said. “I think it inspires other people to help others and do things that might change other’s lives.”

Over at SFX in Hammond, the students marched out on to the streets to walk and run down Legault Road brandishing their Terry Fox banner. Principal Andrew Lovett captured the walk of solidarity on his cell phone, visually proud of his students.

“It’s the spirit of youth and the positive contributions they are making here,” said Lovett. “As a principal it’s just great to see that. They’ve stepped up and answered the call.”

Riley O’Brien, the student leading the fundraising effort at SFX said they were able to raise as much money as they did because students at his school understood the importance of standing up for a cause.

“It’s obvious that students know the message Terry was making and we saw that during the walk,” said O’Brien. “So many students participated in the run and raised money.”

At SFX, the students used their school cash to raise total of $2,083 for the Terry Fox Foundation. At RDHS, students raised $1,098 by handing over spare change.