Belmonte students holding fundraisers for Washington D.C. trip

SAUGUS – Belmonte Middle School students and their parents are making a big push to raise money for their Washington D.C. trip, and there are no shortage of fundraising efforts going on in Saugus this month.?We?re looking to raise as much as we possibly can,” said Belmonte Parent-Teacher Organization Co-Vice-president Anne Fletcher. “We?re just going to keep going as much as we can. I think it?s a great education for these children. You?re going to see where the president lives and where he does business. It?s where all our history is. A lot of these kids it?ll probably be the only trip they go on.”While the trip may not be until June 5, restaurants like Prince Pizza, J & M Subs, Fuddruckers and Kelly?s Roast Beef will be donating between 10 and 25 percent of sales when customers hand in a special flier with their order on certain days.J & M owner Phil Franco said he?ll be accepting the fliers, which are available on the Belmonte website, this Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.With a son at the Belmonte School, Franco said it?s a good time to help out.?My son, Domenic, will be going next year on that Washington trip,” said Franco. “I like helping out with stuff like that. The town has been suffering for a while and there?s never any money in the town. The kids end up missing out on a lot a of stuff. Unless businesses step up and help out, a lot of these trips get canceled or just don?t happen at all.”Other fundraisers include a Belmonte home room coin drive, a $5 hair and make-up treatment before the fall dance and a dance-a-thon on Dec. 1, which Fletcher said she hopes will be the biggest event of them all.?It?s two hours and the kids have to get sponsored either per minute or a flat fee,” said Fletcher. “And it goes by how many minutes they dance for. The kids need exercise and it?s a lot of fun.”The four-day trip costs $625 per student, and with the economy in its present state, Fletcher said, the money raised will help ease the burden for parents.?Everybody is finding it hard these days,” said Fletcher, who has a child in the eighth grade. “I?m a single parent. I adopted my children. Whatever we can do to make a child?s life better.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected]. You can follow him on Twitter @MattTempesta.