Ross students raise record amounts for charities

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An event organized by Ross School senior Alaya Brown raised money for children in Zimbabwe.

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Embracing the Ross School motto, “Know Thyself in Order to Serve,” five students at the private school in East Hampton focused their senior projects this year on raising money for charities. Throughout the process, the students said they had raised a record amount of money for any Ross School senior project event. The key to their success, they said, was a personal connection to the charities they chose.

Senior Projects are the culmination of the learning experience at the school and are an interdisciplinary approach to showcasing what a student has learned during their time at the school. Earlier this month, the Ross School hosted a series of presentations for all its senior projects. They ranged from original films, books and multimedia presentations to musical performances, websites and a unique fashion line. The chosen topics included environmental science, suburban life and numerous social issues.

Though this wasn’t the first time Ross students focused their projects on a charity, this was the most successful effort. The five students organized their own events in the fall, and together they raised more than $40,000. Most of them are still seeking donations.

After reading about Camp Sunshine, a retreat for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, and then volunteering at the Maine campground, Harley Braun, 17, held a carnival at Ross in November and set up a website to raise awareness about her project.

Harley said that during her junior year she had other plans for her senior project, but then she volunteered at the camp and knew she wanted to help more families attend.

“It changed my whole view,” she said. “I plan to go back.”

Harley said it costs a family $1,500 to attend a session at Camp Sunshine, which for many families isn’t feasible on top of medical bills. So far, Harley’s project has raised more than $16,000 for the organization.

“To look back and think, ‘I made that happen,’ is so rewarding,” she said.

Vanessa James, 18, chose to work with the organization Jamaica Impact, or JamPact, which works to improve the social and economic conditions in Jamaica, where she grew up.

Growing up in an impoverished neighborhood, where her school received supplies from JamPact, she said she knew firsthand how it felt to have nothing and knew the impact the organization had on her community. She said that since moving to the United States about seven years ago, she has always held the organization in high esteem and knew she wanted to work for it one day.

“I knew hands-on what they did because I was a part of it,” she said.

Vanessa got the East Hampton spinning studio Ride The Zone to hold a “charity spin,” which raised $1,000 for her project.

In December, Vanessa organized a benefit performance at the Ross School featuring dancers and spoken word artists. She also hosted an all-Jamaican dinner at the performance. In total, she has raised almost $4,000 for her cause and has also earned herself a lifetime membership to the organization.

Alaya Brown, 18, also worked with an organization that benefits poor children. ZimKids was founded in 2005 by Dennis Gaboury, who visited Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and was awed by the spirit of the children and saw an opportunity in the dolls the children had made for themselves out of wire and discarded materials. Mr. Gaboury started the organization by selling the dolls in the United States, and Alaya connected with him when he came to the Ross School to talk about his organization and sell the dolls. When someone purchases a doll, they also get a picture of the child who made it holding the doll. All the proceeds from the dolls benefit the children of Bulawayo, a city where 80 percent of the population is unemployed, life expectancy is just 34 years and 20 percent of the children are orphans, according to ZimKids.com.

Alaya’s fund-raiser, “Expressive Voices,” incorporated the ZimKids ideal of children benefitting children, and Alaya worked with local children from the First Baptist Church of Bridgehampton and the Bridgehampton School and put on a concert, dance performances and skits. So far, she has raised about $5,000.

Hannah Levy, 17, and Jessica Federico, 17, both worked with organizations dealing with illnesses they had been affected by. After her father died from pancreatic cancer when she was 11, Hannah wanted to support research for a cure. For her senior project, she raised money for the Lustgarten Foundation, which supports pancreatic cancer research.

Jessica’s fund-raising efforts focused on research and awareness of Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, a rare chronic neurological pain syndrome that Jessica was diagnosed with in 2004.