From small town to big city: kids helping kids

Mercy Corps International
Monday, 3 December 2001

Children in Manitou Springs, Colorado raise $12,000 to help kids in New York City

Nestled in the Rocky Mountains at the base of Pike's Peak, the town of Manitou Springs, Colorado is far removed from New York City. But in the days and weeks following the Sept. 11 tragedy, the children of Manitou Springs reached out to the kids of New York City as if they were their neighbors and classmates.

Nearly the entire town of 6,000 people – children, educators, firefighters, and merchants – actively took part in a T-shirt fundraiser that raised $12,000 for Mercy Corps' Comfort for Kids program to aid low-income and immigrant children affected by the tragedy in New York City.

"After Sept. 11, we wanted to find a way to have our kids directly help the kids of New York – particularly to help the unreachable kids like the ones Mercy Corps is helping," said Michael Foos, a Manitou Springs firefighter who helped organize the fundraiser.

"Our motto was 'kids helping kids,'" he said.

Working with local printers and with the financial support of the town's merchants, T-shirts were printed using the artwork and words of four children that were chosen from over 300 pieces of art created by children in kindergarten through twelfth grade.

"The drawings allowed the kids to express their emotions and feelings. A lot of kids drew American flags and wrote very sincere messages," Foos said. "During this year's homecoming parade all of the pictures were posted on the windows of the stores and it was quite a site to see."

With the help of the area's three fire stations, as well as the local police and the school board, the children sold 1200 T-shirts to members of the community with all of the proceeds going to the Comfort for Kids program

"People wanted to get involved. We even had one shop owner donate $500 and I would be surprised if she even makes that much money a month," Foos said.

For more information, or to contact Mercy Corps International, see their website at: www.mercycorps.org