Project Hope Aims To Help Community

A group of students in Fort Edward is turning a tragedy into a learning experience. This past summer, a house fire took the lives of six children. From that, these students decided to try and raise money (through Pepsi Refresh) to provide smoke detectors to the local community and educate locals about fire safety and prevention.

Voting for the grant ends January 31st. The students describe their experience, goals and project as such:

"Project Hope is a group of students with the support of the school, the dept of public safety, and the local fire department, that want to provide smoke detectors and batteries to the other members of our community. On June 26, our community suffered a terrible tragedy. A house fire took the lives of six children from the ages of 1 to 12. The twelve year old was my friend Hope. Hope was a very kind person who always smiled, and was nice and respectful to everyone around her. School will not be the same without her. To honor her memory, my friends and I are trying to get this program going. Not only will it provide the community with smoke detectors and batteries, but it will also help create more awareness and help educate people about fire safety and prevention. We will also set up a way to help those that need help installing them. If we can prevent another tragedy like this from happening again, th[e]n we need to do so."

Vote for Project Hope in Fort Edward through Pepsi Refresh. Their current rank, as of January 24th 2011, is 9th. The top 10 ideas in the 5K category will receive funding.