Following a coloring book and supplies drive, Newtown High School student Mia Hochstetler has started donating items from the collection to local organizations.

Mia completed the drive as part of her Senior Capstone Project, which is now completed by every student at NHS.

Public donation locations were set up across town for the collection. In total, Mia said she collected roughly 300 coloring books, 6,000 crayons, 400 markers, and 850 colored pencils.

“So it went really, really well,” Mia reflected recently in a phone interview.

Students and community members were encouraged to participate in the donation.

In an announcement for the collection drive, Mia wrote, “I was a student at Sandy Hook during 12/14, and since then, coloring books have been a fundamental part of my life. Coloring provided me the creative relief I desperately needed during such a tragedy. Now, during a global pandemic and political turmoil, I want to provide our community the same relief I was given so many years ago.”

Mia said she is delivering portions of her collection to Dorothy Day Hospitality House in Danbury, Wakeman Boys & Girls Club in Bridgeport, Danbury Hospital, Family & Children’s Aid in Danbury, Center for Empowerment and Education in Danbury, The Resiliency Center of Newtown, and FAITH Food Pantry in Newtown. Mia said she chose those locations because they all center around supporting children.

Mia called her project “Comfort Color,” and she created a website for the project, comfortcolor.godaddysites.com.

Through the project Mia connected with a school in Wisconsin, Aquinas High School, and coloring books were distributed for one class during finals week to help with stress.

“Based on the letters I received from students at Aquinas, it was very effective!” Mia said in an e-mail.

Reflecting on her project overall, especially as she has started distributing the collection, Mia said, “I really hope that people can use coloring to reduce stress and really just use it to ease their mind as a comfort mechanism.”

Education Reporter Eliza Hallabeck can be reached at eliza@thebee.com.