NHS Student Raising Funds To Attend Program In Australia

By Eliza Hallabeck

With her handmade pens before her, Newtown High School sophomore Danielle Chaloux greeted visitors at Newtown’s annual Earth Day Festival at Newtown Middle School on Saturday, April 30. As the pamphlets she handed out explained, she “was recently interviewed and accepted to participate as a member of the People to People Student Ambassador Program to Australia this summer.”

Now Danielle is raising funds to get herself there; one handmade wooden pen at a time.

She was one of 50 Fairfield County students selected for the trip, and once selected, her parents told her they would split the cost of the trip with her.

“Seven thousand dollars is a lot of babysitting,” said Danielle, “so I started looking for additional fundraising ideas.”

The People To People program also encourages students to raise funds for their trip, according to Danielle’s mother Lisa.

Danielle’s father, Stephen, has always worked with wood as a hobby, according to Ms Chaloux. And wood is exactly what Danielle has been working with to raise her funding. By handcrafting pens in her father’s workshop, Danielle hopes to sell enough to make her way to Australia this summer.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded People To People in 1956, according to Danielle’s packet. The idea of the group is that if people of different cultures come together, nations will follow. If Danielle meets her goal of raising $7,000, she is most looking forward to the experiences she will gain on the trip and interacting with Aboriginal culture. Snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef also looks pretty exciting, she said.

Since January, when Danielle first learned of her acceptance in the People To People program, she estimates she has made about 200 pens. She has sold a little more than half of those. As she crafts more pens, Danielle said she has noticed her skill increasing.

“My parents have been so supportive of the whole process, and I really appreciate all the work they’ve done for me,” said Danielle.

So far many others have come out of the woodwork to help support Danielle too, like the Physical Education Department at Newtown High School, which banded together to take advantage of Danielle’s quantity discount to purchased ten pens for $100, and resident Dan Holmes, who offered Danielle her table at the Newtown Earth Day event.

Danielle crafts her pens out of a variety of wood, including cocoa bola, curly walnut, cherry, maple, and cypress. She uses castoff wood from a furniture manufacturer called Diamond Tropical Hardwood, which sells ecologically friendly exotic woods, according to Danielle.

“The pens make great presents,” said Danielle.

Each pen costs $15, two pens cost $25, and ten pens cost $100.

“It is an honor to have been selected and I am looking forward to broadening my perspectives of the world and representing Newtown,” Danielle wrote in her pamphlet.

To order a pen call 203-270-3527. Donating directly to Danielle’s educational trip to Australia is also possible at www.payment.peopletopeople.com or by mailing a check to People To People, Ambassador Programs, PO Box 34902, Seattle WA 98124-1902. If mailing a check or donating online, make sure to include Danielle’s People To People identification number, 1013674, and her name, Danielle Chaloux.