Seventh-grader Aaron T. recently donated $380 to Key Club’s UNICEF project that provides humanitarian aid to a village in a developing country. UNICEF is working in conjunction with the Eliminate Project, which helps to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.

“I just wanted to get the $500 to get the water faucet, the clean water, to a school or a village,” Aaron said. “There wasn’t any other club I could donate to, so since UNICEF was there, that is what I donated to. I saved [the money] up from Christmas and my birthday. I was not saving it for anything in particular.”

Surprising reactions filled teachers and staff when Aaron turned in the money.

“He is usually pretty shy, in class, and that is why I was so surprised,” civics teacher Jessica Hartman said. “He is not shy with me, [but] he is shy with the other kids. This was not for the publicity or popularity, he really just did this out of his own heart. It totally shocked me when he said he had a lot of money to donate. I was kind of expecting him to have a cup full of change because most kids are throwing coins in the box. When the front office called and told me a kid just dropped of almost $400, I was blown away. I thought they were mistaken.”

Torrez’s donation has inspired others to contribute to the cause.

“[The students] took it really well. They got really inspired and started digging in their own pockets for whatever change they felt like they needed to help,” Hartman said. “They all wanted to make it to $500, so they got really excited and starting pulling out their extra lunch money,”

By Jessica Knowles

Editor’s note: Brevard Public Schools policy prohibits the use of middle-schoolers’ last names on district websites.