By Michael Dinan
If you’re walking downtown Friday, chances are you’re running into a New Canaan teenager or two giving away Valentine’s Day carnations and talking about their participation in a nonprofit organization.
High school junior Emma Crowley and her sister Abby, a freshman, are members of the New Canaan High School Free the Children Club, part an international charity that works to help youth become more civic-minded.
“They just do a lot of fun stuff,” Abby said of the club during a break at Dunkin Donuts on Elm Street. “The snow may have messed up today a little bit, but we’re still out here.”
Henry Greer, a NCHS senior, and sister Anne, a freshman, are supporting the high school’s Free the Children Club this Valentine’s Day. Credit: Michael Dinan
The “Carnation Drive” itself is about bringing awareness to the club as well as raising money for its general fund. Separately, the club is planning to send some members, including Emma, to Nicaragua this summer to help build a school. Emma said she initially became involved in the club through a teacher at the high school.
Here’s part of the organization’s description on its website: “Over the years, we’ve learned that the shift to ‘we’ will happen when we empower young people to fulfill their potential as agents of positive change. To achieve this goal, we create and provide all the resources they need to become active local and global citizens. We also work alongside educators, families, and companies to equip them with the tools to inspire a generation of caring and compassionate young leaders.”
New Canaan siblings Henry and Anne Greer, a high school senior and freshman, respectively, also pitched in with the carnation drive, though they’re not official members of Free the Children.
“We’re helping out,” Henry, who hopes to gain admission to the University of Notre Dame, said outside of Elm Street Books.