In 2005, Mark McNally, a sophomore at Catholic Memorial School in West Roxbury, Mass., enlisted a few fellow students to join him in Boston’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk. He developed a web page to educate the school community about breast cancer and report the team’s fund-raising progress.
Mark’s initiative began what has become the top campus ministry project at Catholic Memorial, a school for boys in grades 7 through 12. In 2008, more than 400 Catholic Memorial students (pictured below with President Paul E. Sheff) took part in the walk. The largest contingent from any one school or college in Massachusetts, the boys raised more than $30,000 for breast cancer research.
Now led by Campus Ministry Director Brian Scott, Catholic Memorial’s participation in the walk has continued to grow in size and impact. In 2009, the Catholic Memorial School Challenge inspired more than 20 other schools to send delegations. This tide of student walkers raised a total of $75,000 for breast cancer research.
