Lend Your Leg: 5th Graders at North Mianus Elementary School last week

On April 4, North Mianus 5th graders showed their support for landmine victims by participating in the Lend Your Leg campaign. 

This campaign started in 2011 and is help on International Day for Mine Awareness (April 4th). The 5th graders each rolled up one pant leg as a symbolic gesture to show their support for victims of landmines who have lost a limb.  Students made an announcement in the morning and wore stickers around school all day as a way of educating people in the school about the effects of landmines.

This cause is important to the students at North Minus because they have been working with the CHAMPS organization since last year. Champs is an organization under the Marshall Legacy Institute that focuses on educating children about landmines and allowing them to help by raising money to help support mine detection dogs. North Minus students have met former mine detection dogs and have been educated on the effects of mines and have seen that they can help!

Last year the students raised over $4,000 for Champs, winning the naming privileges of the next Champ dog. They chose the name “Hawk”, after their school mascot. They hope to finalize the funding for Hawk this year. It cost $20,000 to fund one of these dogs. So far this year they have raised over $2,000 at their dog walk on March 24th and a month long coin drive at the school.

Students have also been talking to students in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen all year through Skype. They talk about their culture and their likes and dislikes. In each call students from these countries talk about how landmines affect them and how they are helping the Champs organization to educate their community, and support landmine victims.