Photos: Lake Seneca Cougars Walk for the Homeless

The pupils ended their walk for the homeless — an end-of-day march around — to the triumph of a radio DJ and cheers.

"Did you know the average of a homeless person is 9?" Mix 107.3 FM radio personality Jimmy Alexander asked the nearly 400 school kids who looped around him in a wiggling, but orderly circle in the school yard. "They're kids just like you."

The Lake Seneca Cougars hosted a Help the Homeless Miniwalk Thursday to benefit the Upper Montgomery Assistance Network (UMAN), which serves Germantown and Gaithersburg families.

Lake Seneca Principal Teri Johnson said it was the fifth year the school has hosted the mini walk. 

"You can never start teaching them the lesson of giving too early," Johnson said. 

A steady stream of students marched around the school grounds, holding up signs they made from bright posterboard and yardsticks.

Regina Mastromarino, UMAN program manager, said Thursday's walk generated about $4,000, based from an estimate of student pledges and donations from business and organizations such as Fannie Mae.

In the past year, UMAN has provided nearly $200,000 to area households facing homelessness or loss of a vital utility, Mastromarino said.