Bengalthon, a walk-a-thon involving over 1500 6^th, 7^th and 8^th graders, took place on Friday, Oct. 18 at 10am, at Bloomfield Middle School, Huck Rd., in Bloomfield.  Proceeds from the event will benefit The Bloomfield Educational Foundation, and specifically will fund after school health, wellness and enrichment programs at BMS.  Students were asked to raise $10 per person as well as more with friends and family donations.  This year’s walk matched the $10,000 goal not including sponsorship contributions.

“We found a need to add after school programs in areas such as fitness, nutrition, and the arts with the hope to promote health and wellness for our students. The Bloomfield Educational Foundation wanted to help support this endeavor, and working together, we created the Bengalthon to raise funds for this purpose,” explained BMS Middle School Principal, Alla Vayda-Manzo.

Once again, Bengalthon’s Champion Sponsor was Brookdale Shop-Rite located on Broad St. in Bloomfield.   Bagels Abroad also located on Broad St., was this year’s Breakfast and Opening Ceremonies Sponsor, and Modell’s of Bloomfield and APG Security of South Amboy, were this year’s Blue Ribbon Sponsors.  Festivities began with a kick-off ceremony at 9:30am and then the students walked for approximately 30 minutes with the Bloomfield High School Band, high school cheerleaders and members of various sports teams cheering them on.  Every walker received a commemorative T-shirt and breakfast.  There were prizes supplied by Modell’s for the students who raised the most in pledge support.

“We’d like to thank our sponsors, Brookdale Shop-Rite, Bagels Abroad, Modell’s and APG Security for helping to make this possible.  Their involvement in our community is very crucial to our success,” stated Vayda-Manzo.