The following was adapted from materials provided by Kirsten Morin, a parent of one of the girls in a group of Cider Mill 4th grade students who have created a fundraiser at their school to raise money to support Wilton Social Services as well as a shelter in Westport.

Growing up in a somewhat insulated Fairfield County community, it can be quite easy to lose sight of the need that does exist around us.

One group of Cider Mill 4th grade girls learned an important lesson about helping others in need and how to pool their talents and drive to try and help those less fortunate.

The girls—Emmy Baer, Caitlyn Calabrese, Bella Chila, Julia DiLullo, Maddy Gillespie, Caroline Hage, Lindsay Morin, and Shayna Wilson-Spiro—were inspired by the efforts organized at school just prior to the December holiday break, when the Cider Mill elementary school classrooms help local families in need by collectively contributing baskets of supplies, non-perishables and other donated items.

Those school-wide efforts and accompanying classroom discussions about helping others, being charitable and building community sparked something in that group of girls. They began to plan ideas at recess around how they could do more to lend a helping hand. After much discussion, they came up with an idea that they believed not only would benefit the entire community, but would also draw support from and engage their classmates.

They knew that during the holiday season, iPads and similar technology-related gadgets were high on everyone’s gift wish-lists. In fact, almost all of their friends wanted one. So they thought, what if they sold $1 tickets school wide, and then raffled an iPad to one lucky student. They’d be able to encourage as many kids at school to participate as possible.

As the idea gathered steam, the girls engaged the help of their teacher, Jeff Schwartz, to help drive the idea forward. As time progressed, with the support of the Cider Mill Administration, and in particular Cider Mill principal Dr. Jen Mitchell’s dedicated leadership, the girls were able to put their plan into action. The girls took the full lead on the project, going classroom to classroom selling tickets each morning and ultimately raising just over $1,400.

In addition to achieving their goal of raising significant and meaningful funds, the girls were able to learn some valuable lessons through their hard work and some obstacles. For example, their project overlapped with “Reading Rocks!” a different fundraising effort organized by the Wilton Education Foundation, so they had to learn by trial and error how to distinguish themselves and communicate to the wider community. They developed skills  on organizing, promoting, hard work and philanthropy. All in all, it was learning experience that demonstrated just how easy it is to do a big, GOOD thing for others with such a simple, pure idea.

Their teacher, Mr. Schwartz, had this to say:  “I’m extremely proud of all the girls and their dedication to helping others. Their efforts to put the needs of others ahead of their own is what I’m most proud of.”

Thanks to the generosity of one of the girl’s families, 100-percent of the money raised will benefit Wilton Social Services and the Westport Homes with Hope Shelter.