Help For Haiti Will Come From One Reed School Student And Dozens Of Cookies

By Shannon Hicks

Sage DeSimone was watching the early news reports of last month’s earthquake in Haiti and decided she could do something to help those who were affected by the natural disaster.

So the Reed School fifth grader has organized a bake sale, and is hoping fellow Newtown residents will keep her in mind when they are running their weekend errands on Saturday, February 20. Sage and some friends will be in the lobby of Edmond Town Hall that day, selling homemade baked goods to raise funds for Save The Children. The sale will begin at noon and will continue for a few hours.

“I was with my mom, and we were watching the news, and I saw children in huts made of grass and all these tiny schools that had been ruined,” Sage said. “I knew there had to be something I could do.”

Sage likes to cook and bake. Her mom cooks “so much,” said the petite 11-year-old who has always watched her mom and says her love of cooking probably started when she received an Easy-Bake Oven and her first cookbook. Today Sage watches cooking shows “all the time,” and she especially admires Rachel Ray, whom she calls “the bomb.”

“It’s a passion, really,” Sage said of cooking and baking. “I just love to cook.”

Sage is going to use this passion to help others. She has received permission from Reed School Principal Dr Sharon Epple to hand out fliers and information sheets around the school, which has in turn already led to at least ten students from the intermediate school signing up to help bake homemade goodies for the fundraiser. Her mother is going to be making “these pecan bars that are really good,” said Sage, who is also looking for help from fellow Newtown residents.

While the bake sale is scheduled to start at noon on February 20, Sage and her friends will be at the town hall by 11 to set things up and receive baked goods donations.

The idea of volunteering her time to help others has already motivated Sage to join her school’s Rotary-sponsored Interact Service Club of Reed. Among other things, Sage has been part of the crew that worked in December during the Rotary Club of Newtown’s Annual Pancake Breakfast.

“We got up really early — and this is on a Saturday, which I don’t like to do,” she said with a laugh, “to help set up the breakfast, and then I took orders and helped elderly people get seated, and brought them their orders.”

She also finds motivation in her teacher Karen King, who has made a number of trips to Ghana, West Africa, and has implemented an ongoing school-to-school program between the children of Reed and The Carolyn A. Miller Elementary School in Ghana.

“She’s a very big inspiration,” said Sage. “I love that she has traveled so many places to help other people.”

Sage has decided that all of the money received during the bake sale will be donated to Save The Children.

“It’s a donation for orphanages and schools, and even to children who need medical care,” she explained of the 501(c)(3) Westport-based organization whose mission is to “create lasting, positive change in the lives of children in need” around the world.

“We will accept donations, sure, but we hope people will buy the baked goods,” said Sage.

“You give sweets, you’ll get sweets back,” she added with a giggle.

The Helping Haiti Bake Sale will begin at noon on Saturday, February 20, in the lobby of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown. Questions can be directed to the event coordinator, Sage DeSimone, at 203-364-7956.