When Dr. Harold Roberts, former superintendent of the Caesar Rodney School District, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease three years ago, Kathleen Thomas knew she had to do something to help fight the degenerative condition that would eventually take the life of her friend and colleague.

    Thomas, a marketing teacher at Caesar Rodney High School, suggested to some of her students that they plan a fundraising carwash and donate the proceeds to a research center.

    Her students were eager to do anything they could to help, but they wanted to go bigger than a carwash. Four of Thomas’ students — Jessey Appel, Brittany Lawrence, Rose McGreevey and Emily Warren — decided to take the cause to local businesses and open the fundraising to the entire school community.

    Now, three years later, the Laps of Love Riders Walk for ALS has raised more than $100,000 for the ALS Center of Hope at Drexel University.

    The 2008 walk will be held Saturday, Nov. 8, and Thomas’ students have already raised more than $16,000 from local businesses, which, when added to the proceeds from the 2006 and 2007 walks, brings the total money raised to six figures.

    Thomas said this year’s walk would be the last at CRHS, dedicated to the memory of Roberts, who died in April.

    In the future, Thomas and her students will focus on contributing to a similar ALS fundraiser established in Rehoboth Beach by one of Thomas’ former students.

    Heather Lewis, a CRHS senior in Thomas’ Marketing III class, said because of the current economy, soliciting donations from local businesses was harder than ever.

    “We used previous records of different sponsors and we looked for new sponsors; every business we could think of, every contact we had with somebody,” she said. “We just called people and explained what we were doing, sent faxes, visited.”

    Lewis said the organizing team hopes to raise enough to bring the three-year total to $109,000, to represent the class of 2009.

    The students are hopeful they’ll be able to top that number with money from a silent auction of numerous gift packages and other items donated by businesses in lieu of cash.

    “Each year we’ve tried to do something different to go along with the walk,” Thomas said. “Some businesses told us they couldn’t give cash but they could give gift cards and all kinds of other stuff.”

    Silent auction items include a Dover International Speedway package with tickets to one of next year’s Nascar races and eight laps around the track in a racecar, Longaberger baskets and packages with gift cards from more than 30 local stores and restaurants.

    Thomas said the marketing experience her students glean from organizing such a massive fundraiser is invaluable.

    “It’s huge, it’s the best real life marketing experience I think they can get,” she said. “It’s not easy, we make it look easy because we end up with a lot of money, but it’s a lot of work.”

    Lewis and fellow seniors Siobaen McIlvain and LeBon Hobayn have all worked on the walk since its inception, and shared a strong bond with Roberts.

    “They saw him decline,” Thomas said. “They knew him; they watched him walk in here the first year, and get wheeled in the second year.”

    McIlvain said witnessing the rapid decline that goes along with an ALS diagnosis made a strong impression on her and has inspired her to look toward a career at a nonprofit advocacy firm.

    “It’s horrible,” she said. “Their mind is still intact, they know what’s going on with their bodies and know they’re not going to live more than the average of five years.”

    But Thomas said Roberts taught her students and everyone he knew more than what the disease does to the human body. She was touched by the fact that, even as his body failed him, Roberts was able to keep his sense of humor and make jokes with the aid of his electronic speaking device.

    “He taught us about compassion, about having this inner spirit, this inner strength,” she said.

     Email Doug Denison at doug.denison@doverpost.com

If You Go...
What: Laps of Love, Riders walk for ALS   
When: Registration is at 8 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 8
Where: Caesar Rodney High School
Admission: $25 registration fee
Information: Proceeds benefit ALS Center of Hope, Drexel University