This weekend a group of 4th grade girls from Greenwich Country Day School held a bake sale on Rockwood Lane to benefit the Children Against Mines Program, “CHAMPS,” the educational program of the Marshall Legacy Institute. The organization’s goal is to eradicate landmines around the world.
To their surprise, the girls — Lisa Hires, Emily Iorio, Tessa Pascarella, Lillian Vittone, Grace Asness, and Ellie Perkins — raised a whopping $500 to donate to the non-profit.
CHAMPS landmine detection dog. Photo, Marshall Legacy Institute
CHAMPS landmine detection dog. Photo, Marshall Legacy Institute
In training, CHAMPS landmine detection dog. Photo, Marshall Legacy Institute
The CHAMPS program brings retired mine-detection dogs to schools around the country for demonstrations. Children learn about the problem of landmines, which kill or maim thousands of people every year — most of them children, women and the elderly.
With CHAMPS in mind, children raise money, as little as 25 cents at a time, to sponsor a dog. The first CHAMPS dog, “Wyoming,” is working to save lives in Sri Lanka. Other countries that benefit from CHAMPS mine detection dogs include Afghanistan, Bosnia, Lebanon, and Iraq.
Through CHAMPS, 100% of the money raised by children goes to the purchase and training of the dogs.
Students can follow the training and deployment of their dog on the Marshall Legacy Institute website.
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