MRH '60s Alumni Raise $5,000 for Joe's Place

gained more funding on Wednesday night, courtesy of the charitable spirit of alumni who graduated during the 1960s.

Bonnie Paulsmeyer, representing the alumni , presented more than $3,000 to the school district during an MRH Board of Education meeting on Wednesday night. Paulsmeyer is a former graduate, teacher and principal in the district.

Alumni who graduated in the 1960s held a weekend-long reunion in September. During the reunion, alumni to raise money for Joe's Place, which provides a home for at-risk youth in the school district. Alumni raised $2,300 by sponsoring holes.

"We not only wanted to have a decade reunion for ourself, but we wanted to give something back," Paulsmeyer said.

But the alumni kept giving. Classmates wrote personal checks to help Joe's Place, and leftover money from the event was also donated.

In total, the '60s alumni raised $5,606.80 for Joe's Place.

The school board and administrators responded by offering a standing ovation while board president Maria Langston hugged Paulsmeyer.

"Being in a small community like Maplewood Richmond Heights, we really became family. This is something we really wanted to do," Paulsmeyer said.

"I know a number of the graduates from the 1960s. I do understand the sense of community and the sense of spirit embodied in all of those individuals," board member Nelson Mitten said.

The money will be placed into a capital fund to possibly buy the property from the school district and begin the process toward starting a Jane's Place, Mitten said.