Cousins Emerson Dondlinger and Avery Stanley show off the school supplies and gifts they collected for a school and orphanage of hundreds of children in Haiti. The York High School students asked for donations from the Elmhurst community.
By Julia Locanto
For The Elmhurst Independent
During COVID-19, the Elmhurst community decided to give back to those who are struggling from the pandemic’s impact. Two York High School students helped collect supplies for a school and orphanage for hundreds of children in Haiti.
Cousins Emerson Dondlinger and Avery Stanley collected a variety of school supplies and holiday gifts for the school using a donation website. This act of kindness all started at the Elmhurst Farmer’s Market.
The Fraternité Notre Dame nuns, based in Chicago, sell baked goods at the Elmhurst Farmers Market. When Elmhurst resident Jim Dondlinger met Sister Marie in Haiti two years ago, she told him that she used to work at the market and has a sister in Chicago.
Dondlinger is an active philanthropist. He grew close with Sister Marie and began helping out in different ways. She works at the Institut Notre Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse in Cap Haitien, Haiti. The organization is a school and center for orphans or children in poor living conditions.
Sister Marie recently reached out and asked for school supplies and Christmas gifts for the children, and Dondlinger was more than happy to help.
Dondlinger said the students in Haiti are living below poverty and have lost a lot recently.
“They were hit hard by COVID-19 and Tropical Storm Laura,” he said.
The students are ages 3-14, Dondlinger said, and most are lacking supplies that we often take for granted.
He reached out to his family, and his granddaughters Emerson Dondlinger and Avery Stanley volunteered to help. They said it was heartbreaking to hear how little the children had.
“When he was telling us about them, we instantly felt like we needed to help,” Stanley said. “It is crazy to think that people our age and younger barely have enough supplies for everyday learning.”
The two created a SignUpGenius.com website with a list of donation items and began to spread the word. They collected school supplies, games, sporting equipment and toys. Aside from basic supplies, the children at the center don’t typically receive Christmas presents, so the girls wanted to make the holiday special.
“We want them to be excited for Christmas morning and have something to look forward to,” Stanley said.
With help from friends and family, the cousins met their donation goal. They divided the items into categories and boxed them in a 7’ x 4’ x 4’ shipping crate. Stanley said the box is on track to arrive in Haiti before Christmas.
The main goal though was to help the children academically and have a positive impact on their future, the girls said.
“Our hopes are to better their chances of success in life,” Stanley said. “If we can take away a little bit of stress in their heads, we can help them focus on learning and teaching.”
Dondlinger said in the past, his family has collected money and helped out the school in other ways. But collecting physical items often times means more.
“Often times it’s things we can’t touch,” he said. “This, you can feel. We can identify with the sister and the kids.”
Growing up comfortably, Dondlinger said he believes it is important for him and his family to recognize their privilege. He said it is easier when they are involved and can relate to it.
“It’s hard to have our children understand that there’s a whole other side of the world,” he said.
His granddaughters took this experience to heart, they said.
“It is important to raise awareness among the younger generation because we are the change,” Stanley said.
They don’t want the experience to be about them, Stanley said. She wants others to focus on the children in need, not only in Haiti, but around the world.
“If we don’t raise awareness, then no one will ever know what these kids go through,” Stanley said.
The school is a nonprofit and is known as Act for Haiti internationally. To learn more or donate, visit actforhaiti.org/en/home/.
