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Conner Middle School holds fundraiser for teacher injured by building collapse

Posted at 11:51 PM, Nov 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-17 01:45:09-05

HEBRON, Ky. -- The Conner Middle School gym is usually the site of athletic face-offs, but every person who crowded inside Wednesday evening was on the same team -- even if they wore different jerseys.

Dozens of parents and students from Conner and Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School attended a "Green Out" basketball tournament in honor of Valerie McNamara, an Immaculate Heart of Mary teacher and mother who was left with severe brain and spinal cord injuries after being struck by debris from a collapsing building in Covington.

 

McNamara, a one-time Conner student, was injured Sept. 29 while chaperoning students from her school on a field trip.

RELATED: Valerie McNamara's sisters thank community for supporting teacher caught in building collapse

Although Valerie’s Prayer Angels, a fund set up to help her family in the wake of the incident, has raised $32,964 since the collapse, her road to recovery is still a long one. Valerie’s Prayer Angels have planned many more fundraisers -- even some scheduled for 2017 -- to support McNamara and her family as they cope with the cost of her treatment.

“It helps me because you go through your highs and lows, and when you’re at a low, the community kind of puts you on their shoulder and helps you through it,” her husband, Bryan McNamara, said Wednesday night.

Every dollar of profit from the "Green Out," including ticket and food sales as well as a silent auction, will be donated to McNamara's recovery.