Commanders’ John Bates joins Mercer Middle’s Walk in support of cleft care

By Valerie Cury

Mercer Middle School in Aldie held its annual “Walk for Smiles” walk-a-thon fundraiser on April 25 to support children born with a cleft lip and/or cleft palate. Proceeds from the event will go to Smile Train, the world’s largest organization dedicated to cleft care. First launched in 2011, the fundraiser welcomed a special guest this year—Washington Commanders tight end John Bates, who was also born with a cleft condition.

On the outside track where the walk-a-thon took place, Bates said he grew up with a cleft lip and had to deal with that his whole life. “When I moved to Washington four years ago, Troy Reinhart reached out to me about some different opportunities to give back to the community.”

Reinhart is the Senior Vice President, Philanthropy and Ambassador Development with Smile Train.

Bates shared that growing up, he had no idea until he moved here and connected with Troy—only then did he learn from his parents that both they and his grandparents had been supporting the organization since he was a child.“Since the last four years, I have been doing what I can whenever I can to give back to the community and try to make a difference. I am excited to be here and give back to the youth and kids.“I remember being in their shoes not long ago, so to be able to come back to school as both my parents were educators for over 30 years—so schools, education really hit home for me. It’s great to be here doing this walk-a-thon,” said Bates before being surrounded with excited students.

LCPS teacher Brian Fontaine has been doing the walk-a-thon since 2011, which benefits Smile Train. “We started it to encourage kids to change the lives of others, or to do some good in the world,” said Fontaine. He said the first year we raised $22,000 with the help of corporations matching funds, and over the years they are going to break $400,000.

“It’s the kids that do all the work. They raise all the money. So we just organize and put it together. We have some fantastic teachers that do a lot of the work,” said Fontaine.

Mirela Mrkonjic said it is her fifth-year teaching at Mercer Middle School and her fourth-year working with Mr. Fontaine. She works with all the students who make all the posters, the envelopes, and the slides together and get the students involved. The fundraiser lasts about a month in the spring.

Around 150 students took part in this year’s walk, helping raise funds to provide life-changing cleft lip and palate surgeries for children in need worldwide. After the outside events which included tug-of-war, Bates met with top student fundraisers and delivered remarks in the school auditorium. He encouraged students to keep making a difference and to lead with kindness.