“Keaira’s Fund” was created for Keaira Cunningham, who was tragically lost to suicide. Spearheaded by our local Kindness Club and advised by Ms. Young, a ‘’dress down day’’ was created on Friday, March 9 to gather money to help defray the cost of Keaira’s headstone and to bring awareness to the prevention of Teen Suicide.
On this day, students were permitted to wear sweatpants and/or a hat for one dollar each. Many students purchased yellow ribbon tags for themselves and for others! Along with participating in the dress down, many also gave extra donations, as well. All who wore these slips did so with the greatest intent to show we can all make a positive change. As we distributed the tags, students in the Kindness Club worked to make it known that each student was kindly there to support their fellow classmates, to help in any way they could. Overall, the big picture was to raise money for a great cause, and the Kindness Club did just that and more.
Teen Suicide is an issue that affects the entire globe. According to americanspcc.org, suicide is the third leading cause of death among people ages 10-24. Our Kindness Club advisor and club members care very much about making sure all we know are cherished and appreciated. We dedicated ourselves to try to make even the smallest difference in the lives of others.
Being in this club taught me so many valuable lessons -- most of all, it’s taught me that we need to show kindness in this world. We all have experienced the great rewards from helping others, and the feeling we get when we help someone is a remarkable, overwhelming sense of joy, happiness, and wholesomeness -- especially with this last project we recently completed.
At the end of the day, we gathered $400.00 in donations. This is an incredible amount for us to collect, and it is a testament to the generosity of our school. The donations completely exceeded our expectations, and showed us how much of a difference we can make in someone's life.
Keaira’s family was very thankful that we were able to contribute toward the fund, personally thanking us “for the generosity.” They also appreciated how much of a big push for ‘’Teen Suicide Prevention’’ LCCTC provided.
Keaira’s family asks that we continue to urge others to spread kindness to each other in the hopes to find that all know there is a friend in everyone. Although we completed the project to bring a little light to a world sometimes filled with darkness, we are forever dedicated to furthering our work in raising awareness and making a change for Keaira, her family, and the world around us.
