Community Corner
Waukesha North Graduates Plan Benefit for Colorado Shooting Victims
Two area college students plan Ordinary Heroes fundraiser for those affected by shoting during midnight screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, CO.
When graduates Zach Dunton and Kelsie Wendelberger first heard about the during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises earlier this month, they knew they wanted to take action.
“We talked about how we were so moved and we felt hurt, actually,” said Dunton, who just finished his freshman year at UW-Oshkosh. “We really felt like it was our turn to do our part. We are really global citizens in this nation and we felt like it was our part to help out a city.”
Sticking with the theme of The Dark Knight Rises, Dunton and Wendelberger, who finished her freshman year at Wheaton College, are organizing a fundraiser for those affected by the shooting in Colorado. Coordinating their efforts with in downtown Waukesha from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 3, the students are asking people to donate to the cause in an exchange for a sticker that states “I am an Ordinary Hero.” The Ordinary Hero fundraiser will have two booths in downtown Waukesha being manned by “real-life heroes,” including firefighters, police officers and Mayor Jeff Scrima, according to a news release.
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“We just felt like the media and the world is seeing all the villains,” Dunton said. “We wanted to show the world and fight back and say the hero exists too.”
The funds will be donated to the Aurora Victim Relief Fund, which is partnering with the Community First Foundation. The money will be donated for costs like grief counseling, hospital bills, funerals, missed work and accommodations.
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The Ordinary Heroes fundraiser is themed around this quote from the movie:
“A hero can be anyone, even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy’s shoulders to let him know the world hasn’t ended.” – Batman
“We strongly believe in that – that is our motto of our fundraiser,” Dunton said. “Even a little 5-year-old girl donating a quarter is still showing that she cares and wants to help out other people. All things like that add up, with one big city, everyone tied together can help out.”
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