UPDATE: The student-athletes received an anonymous $500 donation and have surpassed their goal.
About $450 stands between the district's McKinley Tech High School athletes and a chance to participate in one of the most prestigious track and field events in the U.S.
Members of the team, including a Washington Post All-Met hurdler and a relay runner who made honorable mention, have been invited to participate in the Penn Relays April 24-26 in Philadelphia.
The McKinley Tech team members and their parents have to pay their own way to the event, and some just plain can't afford it.
They've been fundraising, getting $5 and $10 contributions, but time is running out.
The Penn Relays offer high school runners the opportunity to attract the attention of college recruiters and the chance at a coveted college scholarship, and all the McKinley athletes invited to the Penn Relays have GPAs of 3.0 or above.
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In a word: A future.