Summer has arrived, but a group of students are in the middle of their biggest assignment yet: supporting first responders.
The event is called “Conntrek 9 – Hikers Helping Heroes.” Nearly 40 4th, 5th and 6th graders from Griswold and New London will hike for eight days between New London and Storrs to raise money for the Westminster, Mass.-based On-Site Academy, a treatment facility for first responders.
“We saw the importance of first responders at Sandy Hook, Boston and Oklahoma, and we wanted to help out,” said Jay Soderberg, one of the event organizers and a chaperone. “We’re putting the light on what our police, firemen and soldiers all do for us every day.”
The group will spend Tuesday night in Rocky Neck State Park in East Lyme. They have raised $13,000 for On-Site Academy, and they hope to reach $25,000 by the time their hike ends next Tuesday.