At the Pella Christian basketball games against Knoxville Thursday night, a student held a fundraiser for the families affected by the tragic events at Perry High School last week.

Pella Christian eighth grade student Breckyn De Vries made bracelets for a free will donation, to raise money for the victims and families impacted in the Perry community. De Vries said that her hope behind making the bracelets was to raise as much money as possible to help the families affected with hospital expenses. 

“I just really felt the need to help them, and I felt like it was really on my heart to raise money for them.”

Breckyn’s mother Lindsay said that she wasn’t surprised by her daughter’s idea to help the families in Perry, and added that their family was busy putting together the bracelets for Thursday’s games.

“Breckyn has always had a heart for others. She definitely loves kids and when she brought the idea to me, I wasn’t completely surprised that she wanted to do something just because of her heart for others and the way that she wants to love others and bless other people. So, when she brought the idea to me I said okay let’s go for it and her dad has had a huge hand in it as well. He’s been buying beads for her and chasing down different colored beads, so it’s been kind of an all hands on deck situation at our house.”

The free will donation Thursday night raised $290.75, with all of the proceeds being directed to fundraisers being held by the Perry community.  Hear more from Breckyn De Vries and her mom Lindsay on an upcoming Let’s Talk Pella.