Students Raise $3,000 For Disaster Victims

What started as scrambled eggs at the diner wound up as a $3,000 donation to the American Red Cross to help hurricane victims.

Sally Tabler and Samantha Wong, both juniors at Newtown High School, presented the check for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund to Julie Reppenhagen, Red Cross western Connecticut  chapter manager.

“Sally was one of the coordinators for the Lead Out Loud conference that was held at the high school. She approached me and asked if I’d do something on self-esteem — one person can make a difference,” said Connie Wong, Samantha’s mother, who works for CSW Global Associates in Sandy Hook, a consulting company that addresses challenging workplace issues and operates under the motto, “Respect for people is our global focus.”

The brainstorming session at the diner turned the focus of the self-esteem workshop to a fundraiser. Mrs Wong’s customer, Coach, a manufacturer of leather handbags and accessories, donated the Coach bags and key chains for a drawing with all proceeds to go to the American Red Cross.

“We set a goal of $1,000,” Ms Wong said. “They started the night before the conference and got a big boost from the girls’ field hockey team. There was such a good response that I went back to the mall for more Coach bags.”

“No one hesitated to help,” Sally Tabler said. “People were so enthusiastic about giving when we told them why were doing it.”

The girls ran the event, raising $1,500, which CSW Global matched.