After Sierra Berhaupt’s death on Sunday, July 31, members of the Village of Colonie sprung into action to organize an event to not only honor the memory of the 12-year-old, but also to help raise funds to support the family.
The Village of Colonie has always been family oriented, said Brian Casey, a former Colonie police officer and current Youth and Family Services director in the Village of Colonie. `Whether it’s a senior, a baby boomer or a kid or whatever, when something happens to a village resident it happens to all of us.`
On Saturday, Aug. 27, the Village of Colonie will be renting out the Family Recreation Center for a ziti dinner and bake sale from 5-9 p.m., in honor of Berhaupt, who died in her family pool after an accidental drowning incident. The event will be $10 for adults and $6 for children under 10-years-old. All of the proceeds will go towards a bank account set up at First National Bank of Scotia that has been set up in the family’s name.
Casey said he was contacted by Mike Ruede, a former Colonie police officer, and Bryan Curran, a current Colonie Police Officer and Village of Colonie assistant fire chief who was the first person on the scene on July 31, to ask if the village would help put on a fundraiser. Casey offered the recreation center without even checking with Mayor Frank Leak because he knew the mayor also views the village as big family.
The incident has taken its toll on some of the residents in the town, especially some of the emergency services people who responded to the incident.
Curran said he has been involved in Colonie EMS, the fire department and the police department for the past 20 years. He said he has dealt with several calls where someone has died, but this particular incident has gotten to him.
`For some reason, this one is bothering me,` he said, adding that he stabilized her at one point before Sierra went back into cardiac arrest after she was pulled out of the pool. `I said to Brian that it is weird because it is always tragic, whether you are dealing with an alcohol fatality or a speed fatality. This girl is 12 years old, how can we know she’s not the one to cure cancer.`
Curran said while this event is to help out the family, it will also be a form of closure for him.
`If I can help them out and get some closure for myself, then it’s definitely worth it,` he said. `I just want to help one of our own.`
Casey said there are several people that have been sent out on assignment with people in charge of hanging up fliers, doing food preparations and other people were in charge of setting up the bank account.
Robert Fine Jewelry has donated a piece of jewelry worth $5,000 to be raffled off and Billy Fuccillo has asked to get involved, Curran said.
Ruede was out soliciting businesses for donations on Monday, Aug. 8. He said there will be raffles and giveaways at the event as well, which are all meant to help benefit the family. Ruede is hopeful there will be a lot of people that show up for the event, especially to help honor a girl he knew from when she was born.
His step daughter Jodi, the best friend of Sierra’s mother Sherri Berhaupt, was the little girl’s godmother. Anyone would be proud to have Sierra as their daughter, Ruede said.
`She was just a sweetheart,` he said. `She was just a kid you could always depend on. She would go out of her way for other people. She was more into giving to other people.`
The day before Sierra died, Ruede said she had a garage sale and was also in charge of babysitting her cousins. When she was paid for her work, she decided to take her little cousins to go get some toys instead of spending the money on herself.
`She put everybody before herself,` he said. `She had a radiant smile that lit the room up when she walked into it.“
