Like many who first heard the news about the flames spreading across Australia, Mrs. Hurd, devastated about the consequences of this tragedy, frantically strove to find a way to raise money for the country. In the wake of the Australian wildfires that have destroyed much of the country’s land and injured wildlife, she thought of a way to help: a school-wide activity called “Kangaroos Helping Kangaroos” as a way to collect donations. The money collected would be sent to the Australian Wildlife Rescue Organization and the New South Wales Rural Fire Service. The project created by Mrs. Hurd took life soon after, with the goal of creating a way for others to help out in global issues.
Once she had the idea, she got the approval of Mr. Hults and Dr. Semmel to set it into motion. Dr. Semmel said he was excited about the “home-grown idea” and proud of the empathy that THS students showed through this fundraiser. A group of students then helped Mrs. Hurd with aspects of the fundraiser like cutting out paper kangaroos and advertising the fundraiser, which included news coverage.
There were four different colored kangaroos – an orange one for $1, a yellow one for $3, a blue one for $5, and a green one for $10. The fundraiser became so successful that white kangaroos were used to show donations of amounts like $100 and $200. In a letter that she addressed to the Terryville High School Community, Mrs. Hurd explained that her “original thought was this would be a small fundraiser contained within the walls of the high school.”
The fundraiser took off beyond any expectation, raising $4300 that will be split evenly between the two charities. This was made possible not only by the generosity of THS students, but also by the generosity of other schools, alumni, and other places across the country. Among the schools that took part in the fundraiser were the Litchfield High School Girls Basketball Team, Pre-K students at KinderCare Torrington, and Mrs. Battisto’s first-grade class at Fisher Elementary School, who did chores at home to earn money to donate.
Mrs. Hurd thanked Terryville High School Alumni, who, dating back to 1957 reached out “with handwritten letters and beautiful handmade cards,” said Hurd. She also received letters containing donations from Boston, New Hampshire, Delaware, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Iowa. As the number of paper kangaroos grew, many students and staff at school became amazed at the profound generosity surrounding these tragic wildfires.
The outcome of this fundraiser has made Mrs. Hurd, like many of us, proud to be a Kangaroo. At the end of her letter, Mrs. Hurd explains that she wishes she “could thank everyone in person, but this would be a daunting task. Instead, please extend my gratitude or share this letter to anyone who you know helped make a difference in this campaign to provide assistance to this worthy cause.”
Additional news coverage links about “Kangaroos Helping Kangaroos” can be found here:
Written by Gianna Farrow