When children wonder if they can make a difference in the community, they should
look to the girls who started L.I.T.E. for inspiration. In just fourteen weeks,
these four girls were able to raise over $1500 through their Manchester School
store and other efforts. Funds were donated to two local causes and one
international organization.
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| L.I.T.E also stands for each of the students' first names They are in order of their initials...Lauren, Isabelle, Tayla and Eliza |
L.I.T.E.,
an acronym using the first letter of each girl’s name that stands for “Lead,
Illuminate, Teach, Empower” started as an idea that Lauren Jordan and Eliza
Hill had after their teacher, Jennifer Ocean, read a book about the charity
Heifer International. They asked their principal if they could start a charity
group. They were soon joined by Isabelle Fortin and Tayla Pelletier.
The
school told them they needed an adult to help, and the girls asked Susan
Hennessy, Lauren’s grandmother, to be their advisor. “They selected me because
they said I like kids,” Hennessy said. She set out helping them get organized
like a business, but she made the girls do the actual work including creating a
mission statement, choosing and ordering items, making posters and displays,
and figuring out how to turn the money they made into more money.
The
girls have a tagline: “four regular girls trying to make a difference.” They have certainly achieved that goal. Originally
the girls set a goal to raise $1000 to split between Compassion International
and a local charity. In the end, they raised just over $1500, working
tirelessly every Tuesday afternoon to prepare for the store on Wednesday
mornings.
The
girls approached Nolan Cyr and his family about donating to his “Warrior
Packs.” Cyr, a cancer survivor, had compiled backpacks filled with items to
help other children with cancer. Because the backpacks were fully funded
already, the girls decided instead to make a donation in his name to the Maine
Children’s Cancer Program, which had helped him and his family so much. In
June, at a presentation at school, the girls presented Cyr with a $500 check to
bring to MCCP.
In the midst of L.I.T.E.’s fundraising efforts,
Lauren’s seven-year-old cousin Hannah Allen was diagnosed with Acute
Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The girls decided to make a really big push, Hennessy
said, so they could also donate money to Allen’s family to help with medical
and travel expenses.
Finally, $500 will be donated to Compassion
International to send a child to school for a year, covering books, water and
snacks.
Now
that the school year is over, L.I.T.E. will need to take a different approach
to fundraising, but Hennessy said they hope to keep it going in some capacity. Not
only did the girls operate a school store, but they asked for donations
everywhere they went, Hennessy said. “Parents donated, family members donated,
it just started to have a life of its own,” she said. One donation, a $25 gift
card from the Ice Cream Dugout, was raffled off at school.
The
girls learned many lessons as they worked to raise money. One of the biggest,
Hennessy said, was that it takes a team to make a project successful, and that
each of them brought different skills to the team. “They didn’t always agree,
but they always came together, drama free, to figure it out and they‘ve
remained friends,” she said.
On
a flyer that the girls designed to promote the school store, they wrote, “We
are having so much fun and learning valuable life lessons at the same time! We
have a true passion for helping those in need.”
“They
already know at 10 and 11 years old, that you have to build a great team to be
successful, and everyone has to be there, everyone has to participate, and
everyone has to live it to be successful,” Hennessy said. “I can’t imagine what
these girls are going to do. I’m just so excited to know them, to have been
chosen. I have a great relationship with these little girls and it’s going to
be fun following them through the rest of their school years.”
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