Thunder Bay's St. Patrick high school musicals raise $125K for local charities

Drama students at St. Patrick High School in Thunder Bay received a standing ovation Tuesday for raising $125,000 for community charities, through their theatrical productions since 2009.

"It's pretty wonderful," says Patricia Del Paggio, the production director and drama teacher at the school.

Ticket sales account for some of the money, but students find other ways to raise money as well.

"On top of the studentsworking on the show itself every day after school, they're also fundraising within the community, so whether it's putting on a pancake breakfast, which we did last Saturday, or selling t-shirts or walking around and collecting donations, the students do it all," said Del Paggio.

This year, the 100 students and teachers who make up the cast and crew of Disney's The Little Mermaid are hoping to raise $30,000 for for the Regional Food Distribution Association.

"It's actually down the street from St. Pat's, so we took a walk over and we learned about where exactly the fund will go, and who it will help," said Paggio.

Eye opening experience

The visit certainly had an impact on Hudson Morash, the Grade 12 student playing King Triton.

"It was an eye opening experience for me to see where our donations are going. It is hard to believe so many families including teens that are my age, need assistance from our local RFDA, which motivated me to volunteer to make sure we raise dollars for the organization," Morash said in a written release.

Since 2009 the St. Patrick High School drama productions have supported:

• Annie (2009) - RFDA
• Beauty and the Beast (2010) - Camp Quality
• Grease (2012) - RFDA
• The Wizard of Oz (2014) - Camp Quality and Our Kids Count

The Little Mermaid runs May 9 to May at the St. Patrick High School Selkirk Auditorium. All shows start at 7:00 pm.

Tickets can be purchased for $20.00 by calling (807) 623-5218, or by visiting the school office.