Middle-schoolers lend a hand for Haiti

By COURTNEY LAMDIN | Staff Writer
mireporter@mac.com

Over the din of the noontime lunch period at Milton Middle High School, one could just barely make out a call for help: “Donate to Haiti! Help us help Haiti!”

The chant came from a small table set up near the cafeteria’s entrance. Katie Fundis, an eighth-grader at the school, led her peers in this and other chants.

“Do you have a good heart? Do you have a good soul? Do you have good money? Donate!”

Fundis spearheaded the “Hands for Haiti” fundraiser after completing a writing assignment in English class where she reflected on the earthquake that devastated the Caribbean nation earlier this month.

“I thought about all the things that I had and all the things that they lost,” Fundis said.

The student-run project asks participants to buy a hand cut out of construction paper for $1, in the hopes of reaching $500. The multicolored hands are displayed in the school’s front window.

Middle school principal Laurie Hodgdon described the fundraiser as “infectious.” The group collected $211 in one day last week, and the grand total will be given to the Red Cross.

“Middle schoolers are so awesome, because they so want to give back, and this is their way to give back,” Hodgdon said.

Jacob Stuart, 14, donated about $20 over the course of last week.

“They need help, and they don’t really have as much as we do here,” he said.

Eighth-grader Hannah Walker said, “People should donate because if we had a natural disaster, we’d want people to help us.”

Alex Nichols, who helped run the table during lunch, said his school’s donation might not be in the $1 million range but that “the little bit helps.”

“Haiti’s been through a lot,” he said. “They’re a really poor country.”

MacKenzie Reese, 14, dropped a quarter into the jar but promised to bring a $20 check the next day.

“She has a good heart,” said Joanna Sumner, a student working with Fundis.

Every time donors like Reese gave to the cause, Fundis and her peers gave them two hands for helping Haiti: the one made out of paper, and the other an enthusiastic round of applause.