Big Hearts: Darien Middle Schoolers Raise Funds For Earthquake Relief

DARIEN, CT — While the town of Darien might be small, it's full of big hearts.

That's especially true for a group of nine seventh grade girls from Middlesex Middle School: Eliz Coonan; Maya Collins; Vesper Clark; Izzy Dijounas; Maddie Rosenberry; Reese Salmore; Lena Blumenthal; Katie Thistle and Lila Sutliff.

The girls jumped into action following the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey earlier this month.

"Right when we saw that, we knew we had to take action," Collins told Patch. "We can't just not do anything, we had to do something to help these people even though it might just be small. Something small can really help."

A GoFundMe fundraiser was launched on Feb. 10 to raise money for displaced families who are now living in the city of Bursa and surrounding areas. Bursa is located roughly 600 miles from the earthquake's epicenter.

Coonan's mother has family and friends who live in Bursa, so the girls are working directly with people on the ground to help bring resources like perishables, toys for children, books and clothes, among other essential needs, to those who need it.

The girls woke up the day after Super Bowl Sunday to hand out flyers at the Darien Train Station to spread the word about their efforts. They then started to go door to door, and handed out QR codes to the fundraising webpage at school.

Some teachers have put the QR codes in the teacher staff lounge at MMS.

To date, the girls have raised over $9,000.

"It is always amazing the difference that a small group of committed people can make on the behalf of others; even more so and impressive since these girls are only in seventh grade," said Superintendent of Darien Public Schools Dr. Alan Addley. "I am so very proud of them and appreciative of those in the school and greater community that are supporting their remarkable efforts."

The whole experience has been valuable for the girls, who have become engaged with global affairs and humanitarian efforts.

"We're all 12 and 13 years old, and there's only nine of us. It's not really a huge group. We're just raising a lot of money, and we're really proud of ourselves because we could really make a giant impact," Coonan said. "A lot of people in Turkey, I'm pretty sure they'd be so grateful and that's why we're doing this."

Collins said she's learned about the power a small group can have if they all pull together. The girls regularly text in a group chat about the fundraiser and the goals they've hit along the way.

"I love doing this with my friends because we all motivate each other. We know even a small amount, like $6, can feed someone for a whole week. Even a small amount of money makes a huge difference in someone's life," Collins said.

The fundraiser has a goal of $10,000, but the girls don't plan on stopping there.

They hope to engage other nearby towns to get more residents involved in the relief effort.

For more information, visit the GoFundMe fundraiser website.

GoFundMe is a Patch partner