When a deadly and destructive earthquake struck Nepal on April 25, killing thousands, Diana Gunstone of 麻豆社国产knew she had to find a way to connect her son with what was happening in his birthplace.
鈥淭enzin was born in Nepal,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e adopted him in 2007.鈥�
Gunstone decided to send Nepalese prayer flags to school with Tenzin, an eight-year-old in Grade 3 at 脡cole les Aiglons located within Garibaldi Elementary School.
鈥淲e had some prayer flags we picked up in Nepal and I wanted to put some in his bag to take to school,鈥� said Gunstone. 鈥淏ut at first he wasn鈥檛 too keen on the idea.鈥�
Eventually he relented, and the flags did more than connect Tenzin and the other students to the tragedy: They inspired a school-wide fundraising initiative.
鈥淗e came back at the end of the day and said he had given the flags to the teacher and that now they were going to raise money for Nepal,鈥� she said. 鈥淭heir class decided on a bottle drive to raise money, and they made posters and went through Garibaldi Elementary to tell the other students and the initiative spread quickly throughout the school community.鈥�
Beginning April 30, with cans and bottles picked up during the schools鈥� Pitch-in Week efforts at Rose Park, students started earnestly collecting cans and bottles.
鈥淎ll the proceeds are going to the Nubri/Manalsu region, a remote mountain area devastated by the quake and also the home of Tashi and Nangsal Lama, two Nepalese ladies who are students at Quest University,鈥� Gunstone said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e also set up a Gofundme.com page to fundraise for their villages.鈥�
On Tuesday, 15 Grade 3 students from 脡cole les Aiglons and their teacher, Madame Marie-France Dubois, took 麻豆社国产public transit to the bottle depot to sort what they had collected.
鈥淪o far they have raised $650,S said Gunstone. But 麻豆社国产people can still donate to the initiative by going to the Gofundme.com page or by going to the 麻豆社国产Bottle Depot with their bottles and directing their refund to account #260 (脡cole les Aiglons).
For Gunstone, the fundraising drive has done a lot more than just raise money.
鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing how it brought the school community together,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut also, now Tenzin has this connection to a place he鈥檚 not really seen since he was just 18 months old.鈥�
