Abby Jenest says she was already making bead bracelets at home with her mom before an earthquake struck Haiti – but the tragedy prompted her to take her craft to another level.
After the mid-January disaster, “I watched a video (online), and I got really upset, so I asked my mom if we could do something,” said Jenest, 10, who is in fourth grade at the Oakdale School.
Two weeks of brisk recess sales later, that “something” – a temporary bracelet shop set up in the Oakdale principal’s office –added up to one big donation, topping $850, for Haiti relief efforts.
Besides the video, which she watched on Yahoo, the young fundraiser was motivated by the “really pretty bracelets” she saw her mom’s friend selling at Uniquely Global. Those were $10, so Jenest and her mother thought of selling theirs for $1 or $2.
Jenest explained they used a seed beader to make huge strands, each good for 10 to 12 bracelets. “Normally the strand’s as tall as my brother,” who is in middle school, Jenest said.
Dollar bills clutched in their hands, about 20 Oakdale students streamed into Principal Holli Armstrong’s office last Friday, where Jenest and her good friend Bridget Flynn, 10, were nearing the end of their bead sales. Buyers could choose from bracelets on a bulletin board on a table for $1, or from those hanging on a black rack stand that were $2.
Alyssa Pugliesi, 9, bought several bracelets, including one with a silver and turquoise design, and another that she said “looks like cotton candy.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” she said of raising money for Haiti.
Brothers Jason and Erik Leonard each spent $10 on beads – most of which they were giving to their parents.
“I got most of them for my mom and dad,” said Jason, 10, displaying a wristful of bracelets. He said he would keep the one with green rocks.
With such sales, the moneybox overflowed with bills. Armstrong said the school also sold silver ribbons for Haiti the day before February vacation, and that the two projects combined raised “probably close to $1,200 when all is said and done,” including more than $850 from the bracelets.
“We’re going to send all of the money. We’re not keeping any,” Jenest said.
For more stories about Haiti, go to Haiti Headlines.
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
