Community Corner

Croton Teen Asks for Donations to Charity, Not Presents, For Birthday

A Croton teen is asking friends to donate to a fund created in the name of the three little girls who died in the Stamford, Ct. Christmas fire, that supports arts in public schools.

Most teenage girls might be hoping for latest pop cd, fruity lip-gloss and cute new clothes on their 14th birthdays, but Caroline Anson does not want any presents at all. Instead, the Croton-Harmon 8th grader is asking birthday party guests to donate to a fund created in the name of three girls lost in a

Matt Badger, the father of the three girls who died in the fire along with their grandparents, started the Lily Sarah Grace Fund to support art in public schools and keep their names alive. The Ansons know the Badger family because Caroline’s younger brother Zach attended the Winward School in White Plains with Lily, who was nine years old at the time of her death. 

“Caroline said I am a little too old to get presents so she thought it’d be nice to do donations,” Caroline’s mother Jessica said.

Find out what's happening in Stamfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“She didn’t really even know the family. She just saw the impact it had on Zach losing his friend and felt really bad,” Jessica said.

Caroline is holding her fundraising birthday party at this Saturday, April 21. Nellie’s owner, Ginael Alexander, will be also be donating 10 percent of her gelato sales to the Lily Sarah Grace fund that day.

Find out what's happening in Stamfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

So if you stop in downtown Peekskill Saturday, make sure to buy a gelato. And know that at least one of the teenage voices you here singing karaoke from the back already understands the importance of giving back at age 14.

To learn more about the Lily Sarah Grace fund, visit their website here.

Happy Birthday Caroline Anson! 

__


Thanks for reading. Please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.  


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here