WOW-Day at Filstal-Göppingen Waldorf School
Is it possible to have worse weather conditions for a charity run as just above 0°C with continuous rain and all that on October 17, 2010, when there is supposed to be a so-called "Golden October"? Well, ultimately, the weather did not disturb as at all. Without further ado, we all moved into the schoolhouse, rearranged the start to the main entrance, creating a lap circling the school at first and then partly leading through the building itself, as it is not possible to circle our school building completely. And so we had a round of a respective 333 m.
The little ones ran for half an hour, everybody as much as he was able to. The kids gave their best, while their parents and teachers cheered for them. Afterwards, children with happy and bright red faces received their well-earned certificate. They had diligently searched for sponsors in advance and many had commitments for 50 € and plus, per completed lap. There may have even been parents who slowed down their little ones a bit, so that the sponsors did not have reach too deep into their pockets... The second run was of no less commitment when students from grade 5 onwards collected their laps during an hour’s session. And finally some high school students, parents and teachers got under way during the third run. They were just as enthusiastic spurred as the competitors in the runs before. An outstanding example for cheering was a colleague who stood under an umbrella for more than an hour...
What additionally provided a terrific atmosphere, were the various contributions, such as "African drumming" by Enyo Kelé (a group that partly comes from Sierra Leone) and students form class 7, the performance of the school’s own Big Band and performances from two other bands: "Two lifes" and "Jumpin' Point. " Last but not least our dedicated moderator (Phil Heitmann) was a true lucky strike. All around the charity run there were interactive offers such as a craft offering (rattles from toilet paper rolls), a play area (games from foreign countries), a lottery and goal wall shooting (which unfortunately really suffered from the constant rain). The physical well was being taken care of with the help of hot sausages, a café and a buffet (partly with exotic dishes).
Overall it was a very successful event - something other than Martins market and summer festival, even though some voices moaned a bit about the plenteousness of activities and offerings of the event. However, it was a very effective festival: The donation figure now stands at € 20,000. With such revenue a lot can be achieved. And we hope that the initiatives we've chosen beforehand, in Sierra Leone and Sao Paulo, let us know for what they use the money.
This was our first (but certainly not last) charity run and it was not only such a success due to the achieved total and the great atmosphere. Off at least as much importance was the experience that many people, some very spontaneously, helped on the day of the event itself: the students, parents, teachers and the many sponsors. At this point I would like to express a big thank you!
How to organize a charity run – or: Think big!
That was one of the first statements that gave me momentum to tackle the organization of the event. It comes from Rafael Treite, a former student of Göppingen Waldorf School and founder of "Running for Kids" in Esslingen. And he was so right.
At a charity run a decent program is just as important as the run itself (see report). Furthermore there should also be a patron (who unfortunately could not attend) and actually local celebrities (which we want to take into consideration next time) as well as the press (who was invited but did not come). And one should not underestimate what a good atmosphere can be created by professional moderator (Rafael was actually supposed to take over that part, but then sent us a worthy representative).
For a charity run one also needs some time in advance, so we started out not on WOW-Day itself, but on a Saturday in mid October. Finally it takes a lot of people who are committed to help: such as high school students, who for example take over the lottery including the solicitation of prices in shops, the sausage grilling, the buffet, the goal wall shooting and other services. We had actually formed a complete preparation team of students from different classes. But otherwise we "tricked" a bit. The WOW-Day Saturday was one of the compulsory Saturdays and thus the high school students "had" to contribute in some way (however it was not possible to control attendance, which frustrated some of those, who were actually present). Then there were also those who gladly used the unique opportunity "to become famous" at our school, such as the bands that earned much admiration.
With 3 adults and Sven (grade 10) we were a very small "core team", but considered ourselves lucky to have access to many charity run documents through Rafael and therefore we did not have to invent the wheel all over again. For those who wish to venture such an event at their school, we will be glad to pass on some necessary information and material. Nevertheless, it was all new and very exciting on the day itself and only worked due to the spontaneous help and flexibility of many parents and students. With the promise to issue Donation receipts (we handled the campaign via "Running for Kids" a non-profit organization), we still have a lot to do even long after the charity run itself.
Sabine Thoma, Teacher
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