Sixth graders at Sippican Elementary School set an ambitious goal to raise $1,000 for the organization Water for South Sudan. WFSS is a nonprofit organization that drills wells for villages in Africa suffering from horrid droughts or bacteria-infested water.
Sippican has joined many other schools in the “Iron Giraffe Challenge.” This challenge will help to purchase a new drilling rig for the people of South Sudan.
Over the past month, students have each tried to raise their part while also hosting in-school functions.
Salva Dut is the founder and CEO of WFSS. Dut was one of the thousands of lost boys forced to leave their families during the raging civil war between present day Sudan and South Sudan. Dut moved to the United States in 1996.
On one of his annual visits to South Sudan, Dut learned that his father was alive, but suffering illness caused by water-born diseases. After seeing his father, Dut felt compelled to take action on this issue. That is how WFSS was founded in 2003.
Over the winter, all sixth graders read a book titled Lost Boy, Lost Girl about other lost children, which inspired Mrs. Erin Furfey, sixth grade science teacher, to add our sixth grade to the schools participating in the “Iron Giraffe Challenge.”
Our outstanding reading teacher, Cathy Sinnott, organized one fundraiser. Her fundraiser on Friday, March 18, was a yoga session held at Sippican. The professional yoga instructor, Elka Pierre, donated her precious time to the cause. Each student that participated donated $5 to help WFSS. We had a wonderful turnout and raised almost $150.
Students did a tremendous job fundraising at home also. Katie Nilson raised the most money out of the sixth grade class, winning a water bottle with the WFSS logo. Nilson raised $222 by sending emails to her relatives and selling baked goods to her mother’s colleagues.
Nellie Zygiel, another sixth-grader at Sippican, gathered over $200 dollars by walking dogs, babysitting, and crafting.
Maeve Egger and Jack Pepin, also members of the sixth-grade team at Sippican, organized a fundraiser called “Wear Blue Day” with the help of May Caron and Tasha Sudofsky, also sixth-graders at the school. The four students gathered donations from the entire student body and staff at Sippican. Wear Blue Day raised a total of $327.12.
Overall, we managed to raise $1,647.12. Without the help from our science teacher, Erin Furfey, and the entire sixth-grade team, this amount would not be a reality.
From a 12-year-old standpoint, we feel that it’s remarkable that young people like ourselves are capable of making such a great difference in the world. Thank you to everybody who donated his or her time and money to this wonderful cause. Every donation, big or small, is greatly appreciated and could save a life.
By Tasha Sudofsky and Katie Nilson