A little drizzle here and there didn't dampen spirits one iota Friday, April 3, when virtually the entire Foxcroft community participated in the School's annual Junior Class Walk-A-Thon. Through April 7, nearly $10,000 had been raised for this year's beneficiary, the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation.

The group, about 180 strong counting students, faculty, parents and friends, walked, ran or biked the five-mile trek while the sun played peek-a-boo and a scattering of raindrops fell intermittently. Students picked up litter along Foxcroft Road as they went, as they do several times a year as responsible participants in the Virginia DOT's Adopt-A-Highway program.

An important element of Foxcroft's community service program, the Walk-a-thon is organized each year by the Junior Class, which chooses a beneficiary, solicits sponsors and conducts the walk, with help from faculty advisors.

In recent years, the event has raised thousands of dollars to build a school in Malawi, support a pediatric AIDS unit in Ghana and benefit the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

This year's Junior Class chose the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation as its charity because one classmate's father and a Foxcroft housemother's husband both have been diagnosed with the debilitating disease. MS affects the muscles and brain function, causing everyday tasks such as walking, breathing and eating to become monumental tasks.

The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation is concerned with the physical, emotional and social impact on people diagnosed with MS and their families and provides programs, information and assistance to these people.

"To whom much is given, much is expected in return." These words define the Foxcroft outlook on community service. On Friday, Foxcroft girls more than lived up to their responsibility, both to their local community and to those who suffer from MS.

The Junior Class invites you to help by making a donation before May 1. Checks, made out to the Foxcroft School Walk-A-Thon, should be sent to:

Junior Class Walk-A-Thon 2009
Foxcroft School
P.O. Box 5555
Middleburg, VA 20118