Wilton Schools Help Hurricane-Hurt Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida

Wilton Public Schools and Our Lady of Fatima are mobilizing to help their fellow Americans by raising money for communities hit hard by hurricanes earlier this year. Several of the Wilton Schools will be pooling the money they raise for a larger collective donation to Save the Children. But each school has come up with creative, unique ideas to help others in need.

Miller-Driscoll Elementary

Miller-Driscoll students are collecting funds for Save the Children‘s efforts in Puerto Rico through a “Hats for Hurricane Help” program. To participate, Wilton’s youngest school children can bring in donations of any amount (the suggested donation is $1 to $5) which earns them the opportunity to wear their favorite hats at school on Friday, Oct. 20.

CiderMill School

Cider Mill is also working with Save the Children, through their own project called, “Pay it Forward: Puerto Rico.” The students have been asked to get creative and brainstorm their own ideas of some type of helpful or kind task as a way to raise funds to benefit Save the Children: Puerto Rico. Students can earn money by doing chores, setting up a lemonade stand or a bake sale, or collecting donations from family members–they’re only limited by their creativity.

Students will have until Friday, Nov. 3, to collect the funds. Cider Mill is welcoming any help and support from the wider community–donations can be made through any Cider Mill student or dropped off directly at the main office in an envelope marked “Pay it Forward for Puerto Rico.” Checks made out to “Save the Children” are preferred, but cash is also welcome.

As Jamie Toohill, a parent who is helping coordinate the Cider Mill effort, says, “Every little bit counts! If every student at Cider Mill raised $5, we could raise more than $4,500 for hurricane victims.”

To get the school excited about the effort, students have been encouraged to color in a drawing of the Puerto Rican flag and turn it in with their donations. These will be displayed in the halls of Cider Mill to promote the fundraiser.

Middlebrook Middle School

Over two weeks between September and October, Middlebrook students collected money to support communities in the South that were affected by the recent hurricanes, through the Red Cross. Students talked about the events in their teams and then brought in donations for those impacted. Afterward, one Middlebrook family extended the assistance by generously matching all the money collected.

Wilton High School

The teachers are getting into the act to inspire donations, all in the spirit of Halloween. Faculty from the different departments will be dressing up for Halloween. Each department can choose a costume theme and during lunch waves students can donate to cast their ‘vote’ for the department they think is best costumed. All of the money that is collected will be donated to support the residents of Puerto Rico through Save the Children, and the winning department can celebrate the knowledge that they raised the most money by out-costuming the others.

Our Lady of Fatima

Every year, the students from Our Lady of Fatima School take part in a Walkathon fundraiser for the school. It’s an exercise in community outreach and philanthropy, and the walkathon is one of two major fundraising efforts on behalf of the school that the student body does each year. This year, 10% of the funds raised will be donated to support hurricane relief in the US Virgin Islands, which were devastated during Hurricane Irma.

The outreach is part of the school’s annual effort to reinforce “service above self.” Last year, through student fundraising activities, OLF was able to donate $1,600 to local food banks, as well as visit local nursing homes to sing for the residents; collecting clothes and toys for nearby shelters; bring meals to firefighters at the Wilton Fire Department; collect Toys for Tots; participate in Rise against Hunger; and much more.

To support the Our Lady of Fatima walkathon and fundraising effort, visit the crowdrise.com website that has been set up. As of press time, the campaign has raised $3,850 toward an overall $20,000 goal.