Nearly 1,000 help raise funds for Newtown families
Nearly 1,000 help raise funds for Newtown families
ROXANNE BROWN | Staff Writer
roxannebrown@dailycommercial.com
Nearly 1,000 people showed up at Clermont Middle School Thursday night for a dinner intended to honor students killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Conneticut and to raise money for the victims' families.
"I wanted to do something but I couldn't figure out what exactly to do, so when I heard about this dinner, I thought, 'This is perfect,'" Clermont resident Jenny Porter said at the dinner she attended with her four young daughters.
That's exactly what CMS science teacher Olga Ivette Ciccio thought, too.
But on a whim, she picked up the phone Sunday and was able to reach Newtown Connecticut's superintendent of schools who told Ciccio that the families of victims there were in need of money to cover funeral expenses for services they were not expecting to cover, because most of the Sandy Hook victims were children.
On Monday, Ciccio began phoning friends, businesses and school officials, and, before she knew it, had many on board.
Two local businesses, Spiro's and Oakwood Smokehouse, together donated 600 meals for the cause and loads of others donated drinks, desserts, supplies and more.
Dozens of volunteers helped to organize, set up and work the event.
Before the night was over however, more food was brought in because so many people showed up.
Local musicians, along with the school's jazz band, stepped up to entertain the crowd, as did the Clermont police and fire departments, Lake County's EMS and the sherriff's office.
Grassy Lake and Pine Ridge Elementary school students made snowflakes that were sold at the event as a way to remember the victims.
Meals were $5 per person and the paper snowflakes were $1. Upon purchase, people were asked to write the name of one of the victims on each snowflake and drop it in a box, since all of them will be sent to Newtown along with whatever money is raised.
"Oh my God, I'm speechless. I cannot believe what we were able to do in three days," Ciccio said. "I just knew that so many people, like me, wanted to help but didn't know where to start. They were stumped, so I thought, 'Let me just try this.' I felt like doing nothing was not an option."
Clermont Police Chief Chuck Broadway, there with many from his department, called the event and community outpouring "awesome."
"In the wake of the senseless violence, hopefully today will bring some much needed relief for the victims of the Sandy Hook Tragedy," Broadway said, adding that people suffering from loss and devastation accept help graciously, especially when there's sincerity and love behind it.
Broadway would know. As a former New York Police Department detective, witnessed firsthand what followed after the 9/11 tragedy.
On Thursday, attendees at the dinner could only imagine as they stopped to have a look at a memorial wall adorned with pictures and bios of the 26 people, mostly children, who were killed in the shooting last week.
As people walked by, many stopped, cried and talked about the senselessness of their deaths.
"It's just really sad because all these kids died because some dude was angry. They didn't deserve it," CMS Student Rodney Douglas, 12, said.
Douglas also described a family scare because a 6-year-old cousin of his lives in Newtown. Douglas said his family was on edge but later found out the cousin attended a different school.
"Oooh, we were scared, but he's okay," Douglas said.
Porter, the mother of four girls, ages 11, 8, 4, and 1, said she cannot even imagine what parents of those killed may have felt and are still feeling. But she said she hopes they are comforted a little by the support they have received from the entire nation.
"I think the biggest thing is that they (families of victims) know we're all behind them, that we're all moved, and that our lives, too, have changed forever because of them. We can't bring their children back, so all we can do is mourn with them and try to help how we can," she said. "I know I've had feelings of wanting to keep my girls close. I didn't want to send them to school and we've been loving on them extra."
More than $4,000 was raised Thursday, which will go to the "Newtown Memorial Fund," a not-for-profit organization and scholarship fund started by a longtime resident of Newtown to cover funeral expenses for the victims, a future memorial honoring them and scholarships being formed in their honor.
Friday, December 28, 2012 - www.dailycommercial.com/28dec2012help