Laurens Girl Raises Funds

So Friend Can Take D.C. Trip

By LIBBY CUDMORE • HOMETOWN ONEONTA & The Freeman’s Journal

LAURENS – Need help with some spring cleaning? Feed the dog while you’re out? Watch the kids on a night out?

Just call Cadence.

Cadence Koren, 11, is using her hustle to raise funds to help one of her fellow students on the Laurens Central School Safety Patrol.

“I like helping kids,” she said. “In Safety Patrol, we learn about being role models and helping people out.”

The year caps off with a trip to Washington D.C., where students tour the Capitol and other sites around the city. “The 7^th graders told us all about it, and we were all excited to go,” she said.

But when Cadence found out that one of the boys on the patrol couldn’t pay the $300 fee, she put her training in helping fellow students to practical use.

“I thought, I have all this free time, so why don’t I put it to something good?” she said.

She cleaned her room and sold some of her own things online, and in the last week she went in to the community, offering to work around her neighbors’  houses. “I helped my aunt with her chickens, and my grandmother asked me to help me rearrange her pots and pans.”

Utilizing Girl Scout fundraising experience, she has raised nearly $100 towards her endeavor. “He was so excited when I told him,” she said.

Cadence is available for organizing and other “odd jobs,” especially babysitting. She can be hired through her mother’s Facebook page, Melissia Ann Koren, or by emailing her at melissia14@hotmail.com. Donations can also be arranged by contacting Frank at jrlegacy23@yahoo.com.

“My mom has a daycare, and I’ve always wanted to be a babysitter,” she said. “Right now, I’m babysitting some of the kids who aren’t in her daycare anymore.”

And although she’s doing the work herself, the rest of the community is getting involved to help her reach her goal. Lou’s Auto Repair in Oneonta has pledged $100, and her mother, Melissia, a Thirty-One saleswoman, is taking all of the proceeds from her sales this month and donating them to her daughter’s fundraising efforts.

Melissia also set up a page so those who may not need any work done can donate directly. The funds must be raised by April 12.

And if she raises more than $300, the remaining proceeds will go into a fund to help other students on Safety Patrol who might be struggling with the cost of the trip.

The Safety Patrol at Laurens Central School is a program for sixth graders, who volunteer at the beginning of the year for “posts,” including assisting students with mobility issues to get to and from the buses, and folding the flag.

“This was 100 percent her idea,” said dad Frank. “She’s always had a soft spot for this kid, and we’re so proud of her.”