Devastation hit Haiti in January 2010 after an earthquake with a 7.0 magnitude changed the lives of over 3 million people. From May 12 through the 26, eighteen “Trekkies” from our school will be going to Haiti to help build a school outside of a town called Les Cayes, located 95 miles southwest of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.
LM’s chapter of this national community club has a goal of raising $66,000, with each Trekkie responsible for $3,665. A total payment of $65,970 is due by April 14. Considering LM’s buildOn has only ever raised a maximum of around $10,000 in one year, this year’s Trekkies have far surpassed the goal of any previous year, having already reached over $24,000.
With such a tough goal, one starts to wonder how the Trekkies do it. Currently, LM’s buildOn chapter is in the lead for fundraising among all of the buildOn chapters in the country. What are they doing to raise this over whelming amount of money?
Trek members have been working both individually and as a group to help raise the money. Junior Julia Kramer-Golinkoff believes that she, “along with everyone else going to Haiti, will [each] successfully be able to raise $4,000.” As junior Efi Narliotis said, “personally I don’t even like thinking about how much I still have left to do, it’s that scary.” Junior Charlotte Smith has partnered up with The Duduza Project (“duduza” means “comfort” in Zulu). Duduza makes hand-knit comfort dolls that are given to children in over 21 impoverished countries around the world. The Trek group will be bringing about 200 of them to Haiti. Charlotte is soliciting donations from the community to help pay for these dolls.
Senior Leslie Rothstein participates in a Haiti Jewelry Project, which was started back in 2010 by a group of metal arts students who wanted to help Haiti. They will be making necklaces with various charms, including a cross to represent the Red Cross, a water droplet to represent fresh water, a house to represent stable shelter, and a bowl to represent food. Freshman Divya Ayra is currently writing a book called “Ramayana” (about Indian mythology) and hopes to use the proceeds to help fund her trip.
As media has become a major outlet in today’s society, the Trek members have been taking advantage of what the Web offers. Each Trek member has a student donation page on the Internet and the buildOn eBoard has a tab to help educate people about Trek and the goals it hopes to accomplish. Facebook and Twitter are also helpful in seeking donations for the trip. Narliotis and Kramer-Golinkoff, along with sophomore Sarah Schelling, have a Facebook page where they sell clothes. Smith, junior Josh Metzman, and sophomore Megan Hirsch use Twitter to help spread the word and gain donations. Individually, other members have been asking for donations in their neighborhoods, taking odd jobs for money (like raking leaves), and writing letters to family, friends, and local businesses.
Recently, NBC 10 has shown interest in the LM Trek group. The school district itself has also been supportive of buildOn, with one of the biggest supporters being principal Sean Hughes. Of Hughes, history teacher and buildOn advisor Tom Reed says, “He is committed to making community service a priority at the high school and has been instrumental in allowing buildOn to achieve what it has. We owe a great deal of gratitude to Mr. Hughes and are very thankful.”
As for what the trip itself entails, for two weeks, Trekkies will live without electricity or running water in a community that does not speak their language, and will work constructing the school throughout the day in hot and humid conditions. Narliotis concludes, “I have confidence in buildOn. As a whole, we are already one fourth of the way toward our goal and if we keep up the classic buildOn enthusiasm, I know we can do it.”
LMers should get ready for some exciting buildOn events in the future such as, bowling night, buildOn gala, open mic night, and more.
Meet the Trekkies: LM's eighteen students going to Haiti
Josh Metzman, '13“The toughest part of the trip is learning about the devastating scenes we're guaranteed to experience while in Haiti. It's hard to get a real grasp on that until we're actually there. Fundraising is a close second.” | Julia Kramer-Golinkoff, '13“Raising the money has been very hard, but we partner up and together, there is no doubt that we will meet our goal of $66,000.” | Gio Hudock-Alston, '13“I got involved with buildOn my freshman year mostly because of Mr. Reed. I had him for history, and I think it would be pretty hard to have him as a teacher and not get involved with buildOn. Plus, Mr. Reed is such a great guy…if you see him, just go up to him and shake his hand. So many people have gotten involved with buildOn, in large part, because of just how cool Reed is.” |
Adam Cohen-Nowak, '12“Street cleanups in Kensington have been I think the most gratifying projects because of the opportunity to bond with buildOn students from other trek chapters and make a visible difference in neighborhoods that are in very poor condition.”
| Efi Narliotis, '13“The one thing I can’t forget is my camera! Gotta document the trip. My quote to live by is ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’ by Ghandi (…so cliche, I know).”
| Leslie Rothstein, '12“This being the third year in a row I’ve applied for Trek, it has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. But after three years of learning, growing, and opening up through my local community I knew I was ready to take on a bigger, international job.”
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Anna O'Neill, '12“My favorite experience in buildOn was learning that we were the number one buildOn chapter in the country in regards to our service hours, which has been my goal since becoming involved with buildOn.”
| Sarah Schelling, '14“I think fundraising will be a challenge, but definitely rewarding when we reach our goal. The most essential item on my packing list is socks.”
| John Snyder, '15“I believe that going and doing this will be a great experience as well as a great thing to do. This school will help generations of Haitian children and I’m very excited to have been selected to go.”
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Benji Pollock, '14“The most essential item on my packing list is an open mind, because without this, nothing will be done. Quote to live by: ‘Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.’ by Martin Luther King, Jr.”
| Sara Kramer, '13“My favorite projects are the ones when we visit the Jane Addams Shelter. We play games with the kids. Last year we made gingerbread houses with them around the holidays.”
| Elyssa Clauson, '14“I joined BuildOn at the start of freshman year, mostly because I was a student of Mr. Reed’s and he did a great job advertising it. From then on I became attached with the positive energy and impact BuildOn makes on others.”
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Jamie McGee, '15“What made me get involved with the Trek to Haiti would be that I love to help people in need, I love traveling and I want to make real difference in the world.”
| Maddie Guss, '12“BuildOn has been a crucial and influential part of my high school experience. It taught me compassion and perspective. It sent me across the world to Malawi, Africa. Doing this trek to Haiti, to me, symbolizes and acts as a great finale to my experiences during high school. It resembles the transition buildOn LM has gone through during the past four years, and really shows the influence a small group of people can make on the world.”
| Nancy Wu, '14“I think the greatest challenge is probably adjusting to a different culture. The living conditions in Haiti are very different from what I’m used to, and I welcome the challenge. The most essential items on my packing list are a camera or a Creole dictionary.”
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Meghan Hirsch, '14“The most essential item on my packing list would definitely have to be my bug spray. Mosquitoes love me! Quote to live by: 'You only live once; but if you do it right, once is enough.'”
| Charlotte Smith, '13“Most essential item on my packing list has to be…a guitar. I got stranded in an airport in Latin America once, and was able to play for money, and was able to make enough to call home via one of those satellite/international phone booth things. So everything ended up okay.”
| Divya Arya, '15“After learning about the Trek, I was so surprised that we, LM students, could go to Haiti ourselves and actually build a school. Usually it’s just fundraising and whatnot, but this was actually going there and helping the children of Haiti ourselves. This really excited me and of course I applied!”
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