Milford is Now the Small City With a Big Heart and a lot of Compassion

Milford’s motto is the “Small city with a big heart,” but the Board of Aldermen and members of the community including Maren Sanchez’s mother, Donna Cimarelli-Sanchez, are looking to add compassion to that heart.

The aldermen Monday night approved making Milford a “Charter of Compassion,” which means that all city residents are charged with bringing compassion to the forefront of their lives. Milford joins Danbury as the only other community to approve the charter of compassion.

Jade Ramos, 26, who first led the effort, said Sanchez’s mother has been instrumental in joining the compassion movement.

More than 1,000 signatures have been collected urging the city to adopt the charter of compassion.

Ramos, who has a four-year-old child, said she is doing this for her child.

“Compassion in schools is incredibly important,” Ramos said.

Maren Sanchez, 16, was killed at Jonathan Law High School last school year.

Mayor Benjamin G. Blake said it was a natural fit because of the city’s current motto of a small city with a big heart.

“We can celebrate the Golden Rule … a city of compassion, it’s a great thing and no one can disagree with that,” Blake said.

He said Milford has show its compassion by uniting after the Maren Sanchez tragedy and after Superstorm Sandy and Tropical Storm Irene.

Ramos said she wants compassion to be a way of life in Milford.

Western Connecticut State University Professor Dr. Christopher Kukk said in Danbury residents have rallied around the pledge. He said high school students took care of the homeless by reaching out to businesses and local dentists to fill book bags full of care products.

Ramos said members will pick a project of compassion to undertake in Milford.