January 13, 2005


Graystone’s Max Aiken organizes relief effort for tsunami victims

Second grader wanted to help

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

Max Aiken doesn’t usually stand out in the crowd of noisy second graders at Graystone Elementary School. But when the quiet little boy saw the devastation from the Dec. 26 Tsunami in southeast Asia in the newspaper and on TV, he felt compelled to do something to help the children.

Graystone teacher Pat Fleisher asks her second grade class how they feel about their relief effort for the tsunami victims. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“I should do something, Dad,” Max told his father who recommended he ask at school to see if there were any relief efforts in place.

Max went to the school office the next day and asked secretary Marj Moearke if the school was doing anything to help the tsunami victims. When she replied that nothing was yet in place, he then went to his teacher and said he wanted to make a donation.

“What kind of donation?” Pat Fleisher, his second grade teacher asked the normally quiet boy.

“A money donation,” Max answered in a soft-spoken voice. “I want my class to make a money donation.”

Fleisher told the boy to go home and think about how to make money and the next day he answered her question.

“We can sell something,” Max said.

Under Fleisher’s guidance, Max presented the idea to his class and all sorts of ideas were discussed. They could
make wood toys or sell hot chocolate. Finally, Fleisher’s hot cider she makes for her class on cold mornings was at the top of the list. Max wanted cookies, too. But not store bought, only homemade muffins and brownies—and not burnt—baked by the parents would do.

Donations for relief being collected. Pictured from left, Kim and Connor Carey, and Max and Michele Aiken.

Fleisher told Max that he would need a committee to help him come up with a mission and a business plan. Max’s committee consisted of classmates Aiden Ward, David Chen, Alli Foreman and Sangmin Song. Posters were drawn to be posted on the school grounds. An announcement in the morning messages and the school newspaper announced the Graystone relief effort organized by Max and Fleisher’s second grade class. The committee decided that the money raised would go to UNICEF to benefit the children of the tsunami tragedy.

“It was amazing to see,” Fleisher said. “Here is a normally incredibly shy boy who did a fabulous job of planning this wonderful effort to help. I’ve seen him become more assertive and mature. A real transformation has taken place.”

Principal Dave Beymer proudly agreed. “Here’s this shy, reserved, nice kid. You see a lot of good kids but every once in awhile something really gets to you. This is one of those things. Max showed a lot of compassion for children across the world that need help.”

A poster advertising the cookie sale.

Beymer instructed the Graystone staff to be sensitive to their students’ questions about the Dec. 26 tsunami that claimed more that 155,000 lives from the shores of Malaysia to East Africa. The survivors need food, clean water and medicine soon, or an epidemic of diseases such as cholera and dysentery could significantly increase the current number of fatalities.

Here in Almaden, the Aiken family donated $107 to begin their son’s relief effort at Graystone Elementary School.
“The $7 was Max’s,” Michele Aiken who also volunteers at Graystone, said at the event surrounded by children eager to donate dollar bills for a cookie and a cup of hot cider. “We wanted to support the cause.”

Aiken remarked that Max came home and said to his older brother, “They want me to be a leader and I don’t know how to be a leader.” She told him if he wanted to be a leader, he’d have to answer questions.

The questions were answered. Max and his class of second graders presented cookies and brownies and hot cider to their classmates during morning recess and raised a whopping $1,000 for the tsunami children.

And all because one little boy wanted to help, and learned how to be a leader in the process.