Kyle Malin, left, of Ridgefield, with his friend Daniel Barden, who died in the Sandy Hook shootings.
To aid the Daniel Foundation, created in memory of one of the Sandy Hook victims, a group in Ridgefield has joined to raise $25,000 to help isolated children who never seem to make friends or belong.
The Daniel Foundation was founded by Jackie and Mark Barden in the memory of their 6-year-old son. Its focus is on eliminating and reducing social isolation and building a better sense of community.
According to Ms. Barden, “When we thought about the foundation, we though about what Daniel would want us to do. Daniel was very aware of children who would sit alone and be isolated. He would try and include them in his activities.
“We find it so ironic that the school’s shooter was a student who had always been isolated. We feel that if there had been a Daniel in the shooter’s life, the outcome at Sandy Hook might have been different.”
Since Melissa Olsen Malin’s son Kyle was best friends with Daniel, Ms. Malin wanted to help the Daniel Foundation, but did not really know how.
A plan came together over Christmas, however, when three Ridgefield sisters, the Olsen sisters — Susan, Melissa, and Carrie — and Carrie’s husband, Jeffrey Warner, met and the usual holiday spirit was not there because of the absence of Daniel.
For several years, Susan Olsen and her brother-in-law, Jeff Warner, had run the 26-mile Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., but they had not planned on training and running this year. But then Susan told the group, “We are going to run the 26 miles for the 26 people who lost their lives in Sandy Hook,” and their project began with the phrase, 26 Miles for 26 Victims.
People all around the country were very motivated to run for Green Team Daniel and $16,000 was raised through the Marine Corps Marathon held the third weekend in October. With other smaller projects in the area, the Daniel Foundation was now up to $22,000, just $3,000 short of its goal.
Jeff Warner and Susan Olsen were at Marine Corps Marathon in October, running for Team Daniel, “26 miles for 26 victims.”
To date, Melissa’s sister, Carrie Warner, has been going store to store, door to door, running raffles and silent auctions, making special Team Daniel T-shirts, and doing everything she can to help reach the family goal.
Ms. Warner even admitted, “I was getting to be a pain to people, but my family feels so strongly about doing something productive in Daniel’s memory. Daniel was such an outgoing, loving and happy child.”
“The children in Sandy Hook have been deeply scarred by the December experience but are beginning to open up and talk and remember the good things about their special friends. My nephew, Kyle, always wears a little cat around his neck like the one that Daniel wore. This keeps Daniel close to his heart,” Ms. Warner said.
“We are also so thankful to all the people that have reached out to help fund the Daniel Foundation,” she said. “Jessica Wilmot, the owner of the Ancient Mariner, was wonderful. She let us use her facility and band for our major fund-raising event. However, we are still looking for others like her to donate or help us run an event.”
To donate directly to the Daniel Foundation, go to www.youcaring.com/help-a-neighbor/marine-corp-marathon-for-daniel-barden/50945 . For more information, email Ms. Warner at carriewarner1@comcast.net .”