First 'Kyle A. Markes Day of Service' Promotes Volunteerism, Good Causes

More than 370 students and many of their parents participated in the first “New Canaan Country School Kyle A. Markes Day of Service” on Saturday, April 11 to participate in projects supporting area nonprofits, including prominent Stamford charities.

Volunteers on and off campus took part in projects to benefit Stamford-based organizations such as Boys & Girls Club of America (Stamford), Inspirica, Domus and Family & Children’s Agency; Darien-based Person-to-Person; Open Door Shelter and Carver Foundation (both in Norwalk), Ben’s Bells, Delete Blood Cancer, Jump for Joy, New Canaan Nature Center, Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven and Waveny LifeCare Network, based in New Canaan.

Parent committees and school teams worked for months on planning the community-wide day of service in honor of Kyle Markes, a sixth grader at Country School who passed away on Christmas Eve 2013. He had gone through a 13-month battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at the age of 11.

“Kyle was committed to community service and even when critically ill, he started a bracelet looming project to raise money for a family cancer support program called Mikey’s Way Foundation,” according to a news release from New Canaan Country School. “Many of the organizations which benefited from the day of service were dear to Kyle and his family.”

Another focus of the event was raising awareness for the national bone marrow registry and getting more people to register as potential donors.

“Kyle’s family continues to be tremendous advocates for Delete Blood Cancer and Bethematch.org, actively registering potential bone marrow donors into the national registry,” the news release said.

Toward the end of the day a basketball tournament was held on Kyle’s Court, a Middle School gathering space, dedicated last spring.

Volunteers of all age groups worked on various projects throughout the day including painting the entry of the food pantry, sorting donated clothing, assembling craft bags for cancer patients, making jump ropes, and helping out in the bake sale.

“Kyle was very much present on our inaugural day of service; his legacy of service and the power of building community was actualized through hundreds of volunteers“ said Director of Community Development Lynn Sullivan, whose office in conjunction with theNew Canaan Country School Parents’ Association, sponsored the day. “It was very important for us to include an educational component by asking project leaders and site representatives to share their organizations’ mission statements, the populations with whom they serve, and the service need before starting the service project.”

First Selectmen, Robert E. Mallozzi III issued an official proclamation marking April 11, 2015 “The Kyle A. Markes Day of Service in New Canaan, CT.”

The school is also hosted a Dunk Your Kicks athletic shoe drive, organized by New Canaan Country School student Shane Baldwin and St. Luke’s School student, Dylan Johnson, both friends of Kyle’s.

Dunk Your Kicks is a non-profit organization that uses the proceeds from the sale of gently used athletic footwear to under-resourced communities to fund pediatric cancer research. Money earned from the drive will go toward pediatric leukemia research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, where Kyle was treated.

New Canaan Country School is an independent day school serving children from Fairfield and Westchester counties in Beginners (age 3) through Grade 9. For more information, visit www.countryschool.net.