In three fundraising campaigns, Comal ISD raised more than $10,000 for two childhood cancer organizations, the Seth Strong Foundation and the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
The details
Two of the three campaigns concluded with staff and students at Pieper Ranch Middle School and Spring Branch Middle School participating in fun fundraising efforts to raise a total of $2,151 at PRMS and $981.46 at SBMS, according to district officials.
The third campaign was led by the senior homecoming court at Pieper High School and raised $7,001. The check was presented to the Seth Strong Foundation at halftime during the homecoming game Sept. 22.
“We are thrilled to have our school community help us support families going through a life-threatening illness of a child,” said Sarah Permenter, one of the founders of the Seth Strong Foundation and a Comal ISD staff member. “We look forward to continuing to offer support to local families with generous donations such as this. In the spring, we will offer scholarships to graduating seniors at Smithson Valley High School and to this year’s first graduating senior class of Pieper High School and Hill Country College Preparatory High School.”
The backstory
The St. Baldrick's Foundation is a volunteer- and donor-powered charity committed to supporting promising research to find cures for childhood cancers and give survivors long and healthy lives. It prioritizes funding new discovery and translational research, clinical trials, and the next generation of pediatric oncologists. Since 2005, the foundation has invested over $338 million in childhood cancer research grants worldwide, according to its website.
According to CISD officials, local nonprofit Seth Strong Foundation was founded in 2018 by the Permenter family—whose son, Seth, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma at the age of 10—alongside a supportive group of Comal ISD mothers from Bill Brown Elementary School.
Seth Permenter is now 17 and an 11th grade student at Smithson Valley High School, and he continues to fight his cancer diagnosis. This past year, Permenter underwent a heart valve replacement and had part of his lung removed. He continues to persevere through his diagnosis, and he is an athletic trainer at SVHS, involved in FFA, involved with his church youth group and interns for the foundation, according to district information.
The Seth Strong Foundation’s next event and fundraising opportunity will take place at the annual Halloween 5K at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 28 at the Bulverde Spring Branch Activity Center.
More information on the Seth Strong Foundation can be found here.
