Students from Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda, started a month of fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society with their RedRush 5k Race on Feb. 10. The event, held at the school, was open to the community and more that 650 people registered to run bringing in more that $10,000.

Whitman is one of 10 MCPS high schools participating in this year’s Pennies For Patients High School Challenge to raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s fight against blood cancers.

The challenge began Feb. 4, with schools competing for the title of top fundraising high school. The four-week competition encourages students to think outside the box and develop leadership and fundraising skills.

The competing schools have set a collective goal of raising $175,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.

The nine MCPS schools in the challenge in addition to Whitman are: Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School; Gaithersburg High School; James Hubert Blake High School, Silver Spring; Paint Branch High School, Burtonsville; Poolesville High School; Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville; Seneca Valley High School, Germantown; Walter Johnson High School, Bethesda, and Wheaton High School.

The Whitman students will hold bRAVE, a seven-hour dance marathon from 6 p.m. Saturday until 1 a.m. Sunday in the school gym, 7100 Whittier Blvd., Bethesda. Doors close at 7 p.m. Cost is $25. For more information visit www.tinyurl.com/vikesvscancer.

Whitman students run to raise frunds for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society