“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
–widely attributed to Margaret Mead

Alexa Schlechter is a teacher by profession, but you could also say she’s helping change the world in a larger way.

That’s clear given the kind of compassionate efforts she recently made happen for two needy students in her class at Norwalk High School where she teaches 10th grade English.

One student was expecting a child and couldn’t afford any basic supplies for after the baby was born. The other was living in a situation of great financial need, and lacked very basic supplies and clothing for winter and basic care.

Schlechter came up with a clever way to reach people she suspected would be willing to help the two students. She reached out on Facebook to the popular Wilton 411 page.

“Wilton 411 is a concentrated group of people, many of whom have children and many of whom have made it clear that they want to help their community and their neighbors. I figured this would be a great opportunity to see if anyone was willing to part with some of their baby stuff. I thought it would be easier than looking on Craigslist or something like that,” Schlechter explained.

Her instinct must have been right, because not only were some people willing to part with things, she was bowled over by the amount of Wiltonians on the Facebook page who wanted to help, after she made the first post about the young expectant mom.

“I put together a list of what she needed. I never expected the response that I got. Literally within 24 hours that list was fulfilled. I had to turn people away, which is horrifying, when there’s so much need that I had to say, ‘Thank you but no thank you, I can’t take your donation because I physically didn’t have the room with everything that people were willing to give,’” Schlechter recounted.

The same happened just a couple weeks later when she went back to Wilton 411 with the ask for the second student. Again, Wilton came through.

“Something that really struck me, one woman contacted me to say she was headed to the store and pick up items. She went shopping for her, and bought some great, brand new items for her from the Gap. This woman didn’t know me, obviously had never known the student in need. She took the time out of her day, spent her money, hand-picked items for this child, did something a mother would do for a child, and spent time to make this kid feel special. It was so touching to me that a stranger would do that for someone else. That speaks volumes about this town in which we live.”

Schechter said something that many others would agree about–there’s something really magical about Wilton, especially when it comes to helping those in need.

“I said over and over again. When my husband and I bought our house here, we thought we found a town with a wonderful school district. Never did we imagine that we were moving to such a phenomenal community with people who are just so willing to help others. I have been repeatedly blown away by the level of compassion and generosity that this town has for each other. It’s not just compassion that friends have for other friends. It’s that strangers have for people they don’t necessarily know, but that someone around them needs help. It’s been overwhelming, humbling and so inspiring.”

Inspiring indeed. The kind of response she got from the community for these two students sparked an idea in Schlechter’s mind.

“In the initial 42 minutes after posting the request on Wilton 411, I got 14 offers of clothing. My housemaster couldn’t believe that many people had volunteered their time, support and generosity. She said, ‘There has to be at least 100 kids in this building who are in need. It’s great to know that people are willing to help.’ That stuck with me all day, I kept repeating it over in my head. Getting responses from people all day long asking, ‘What can we do to help? Let us know!’ Again, I was overwhelmed with too much, to have to say, ‘Thank you but no thank you,’ is really a terrible feeling when my administrator’s voice echoed in my head about 100 kids in the building in need.”

But the logistics of storing and holding all the extra donations–in other words, starting a donation center–would be difficult if not impossible, as Schlechter not only works full-time as a teacher at Norwalk High School but also has two young children. She’s also starting her second Masters Degree program in March.

“That’s when I came up with the idea of directly connecting the need and having some sort of interactive database, where it’s not just me putting out one individual need at a time. If I can compile the list of, ok, 100 kids, lets find out what they need. I’ll compile the specifics from their counselors and social workers, and put it out to the community. It was clear that people wanted to help, and they had the ability to help, and it would help eliminate the burden of doing the drop off, the item collecting. It was clear people wanted to help in more ways than just donating the goods. Hopefully an idea is born, the ball is rolling and we’ll see how it goes.”

She knows she’s got a town full of people who want to help and who will support the idea once it’s fully fleshed out.

“It’s not just me, I feel like I’m the middle man. I have the ability to do this because I come in contact with the students, and I know these kids. The only reason I’m able to do this is I have the contacts within the school, and I can be the middleman with our community. The goodness comes from all of us, within the community here, and I’m just able to facilitate that,” Schlechter said.

Her husband, Aaron, helped put in perspective what that goodness is doing. “Last month, we visited a student’s home in Norwalk to deliver the baby supplies and I was absolutely appalled. The poverty within a stones throw of Wilton is haunting. You should all be very very proud of yourselves. These contributions are truly going to people in dire need. I believe these modest acts can change lives and know they will reduce suffering. Truly.”

Does this happen elsewhere, in towns other than Wilton? Probably, but Schlechter said she knows that there is something really special at work right here in our town.

“Maybe I’m being ethnocentric to the town I call ‘home’ now, but I don’t hear this about other towns. I feel like this is unique to Wilton, and what it is that makes our town so special. We are a well-to-do Fairfield County town, there’s no denying that. But there’s something so grounded about Wilton that separates us from what might otherwise make us feel further removed from the need that others face.”

Schlechter will publicize next steps, including meetings for people who want to get more involved and help her organize, as well as ways people can donate. She’ll post on Wilton 411 and GOOD Morning Wilton will also help her get the word out. She thinks this is a great opportunity not just for individual Wilton residents but also for businesses and civic organizations based in town to take part.

To get in touch with her directly about taking part, donating or helping organize the effort, email her at alexa@schlechter.net.

main image photo credit: Moments by Andrea Photography