Colonie Central High School recently made headlines by raising money during Raiderfest for the American Cancer Society, but the altruistic spirit starts even younger at South Colonie, with an 8-year-old student at Forest Park who has done some fundraising of his own.
Second-grader Logan Trembley was recently invited to attend the Duanesburg Volunteer Rescue Squad meeting to tell the squad about his efforts to raise $570 to help fix damage the building sustained during a tornado.
To raise the money, Trembley held a bake sale at Raiderfest and also had a hat day at his school, where people paid a dollar or more and were allowed to wear a hat for the day. He also donated the $10.43 he had when he emptied his piggy bank.
In late May, a severe weather system moved through the western part of the Capital District damaging homes, knocking down trees and power lines, and also ripping a wall off the volunteer firehouse in Duanesburg. Trembley saw it on the news.
“I felt bad for them, and I wanted to help,” said Trembley, who added that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up because they are heroes.
“He saw it on the news … the day after it happened, and that’s when he told me he wanted to do something,” said Lauren Trembley, Logan’s mother.
Lauren, who heads up the Special Education PTA, played an important role in putting Raiderfest together. She was in charge of the vendors, and when Logan mentioned he wanted to have a bake sale, she had to make sure none of the vendors were selling similar items.
“He wanted to sell something at Raiderfest, and I was in charge of the vendors, so I couldn’t let him sell something the vendors were going to have. He was adamant he was going to sell something, so that’s what we came up with,” said Lauren.
The food was donated by people in the community that responded to a Facebook post Lauren made at the request of her son.
“He asked me to post on Facebook. He said, ‘Can you post Facebook, Mom, and ask people to donate stuff for my bake sale.’ People we didn’t even know ended up donating food. … It was pretty amazing,” said Lauren.
Logan’s original goal was to raise a $1,000. His father, Scott, and his 11-year-old sister, Abigail, helped sell the baked goods, which raised $380.
Logan went to the rescue squad meeting to donate the money and wanted to see the building in person.
“I wanted to see it in real life. They didn’t show the back of it in the first place,” he said.
Lauren said that visit had a real impact on her son.
“I think it was very powerful for him to see it in person and to hear from them that the money would help to fix the building and that they were still working on taking donations,” said Lauren.
The hat day raised $180 with help and participation of the Forest Hill students and staff. Logan said other people could continue to help the fire department by donating money directly.