Nine-year-old Michaela Barnes is all too familiar with fire. Both of her parents, Stephanie and Charlie Barnes, are volunteer firefighters. But one fire hit close to home with Barnes when her new neighbors’ home went up in flames after what authorities are calling an electrical fire.
The neighbors, who did not want their name printed, lost nearly everything in their bedroom and other parts of the home that were damaged by the fire last month.
Without any hesitation, Barnes began thinking of ways she could help.
I just wanted to do some type of fundraising, the fourth-grader at Roessleville said. `I figured a bottle drive would be good because a lot of people have bottles.`
Barnes’ mother said she was so impressed by her daughter’s desire to help a family she barely knew. Her mother was also surprised that of all the fires Barnes had heard of or learned about, this one inspired her to action.
`For some reason, this fire affected her more than others,` she said.
Her mother said was proud that Barnes wanted to help.
`That night, she started talking to me about ways to raise money,` she said. `As a mom, I’m just very proud that she can think of other people.`
Barnes has helped fundraise before, selling products door-to-door for the fire department, although she said on Friday, Oct. 23, that she never knew that’s what she was doing.
For this fundraiser, Barnes said she and her mother approached people in their neighborhood, as well as people in her grandparents’ neighborhoods.
With the help of Roessleville Principal Marybeth Tedisco, her friend Kalin Harvey, 9, her friend’s mother, Heather Harvey, and the Roessleville community, Barnes collected 4,400 cans in a little over a month, bringing in $220 for the family.
Barnes said it took several car loads to deposit the bottles and cans at the Wal-mart deposit center.
While the money was being collected, Barnes said she was not exactly sure what she would be using the money to purchase.
`We didn’t really know what the needs of the family was,` said Stephanie. `They lost everything in the bedroom.`
So Barnes thought about the things that she would need if her belongings were lost in a fire and decided those things could be purchased at Wal-mart.
`Any clothes or beauty supplies are there,` said Barnes, who bought the family a gift card with the money she had earned.
Tedisco said the school was happy to help Barnes collect the bottles and help the family, whose daughter is a student at Roessleville. Students would bring cans and bottles in every morning that they had collected at home or from their neighbors.
When the bottle drive was over, Tedisco said the school sent a memo home to family members informing them that Barnes had a gift to give them.
Last week, the family received the gift card, and Tedisco said that she was happy that Barnes served as a role model for so many other students.
`I think she’s inspired other kids as well,` said Tedisco. `They were all really interested in what she had done and how she had done it. What she did was a perfect example of how one student can make a difference.“