BRIDGEPORT – Realizing you lost the most important part of your life is a journey in Donna Cimarelli’s footsteps.
“We all had a feeling right? I did. I know her friends did. A lot of people around her had a feeling that something wasn`t quite right with this person,” says Cimarelli.
In April of 2014 Cimarelli’s daughter, Maren Sanchez, was inside the halls of Milford’s Johnathan Law High School when classmate Christopher Plaskon brutally stabbed and killed her after she rejected his prom proposal.
Cimarelli says the signals were there but went unnoticed.
“No one really knew what to do with that information,” she says.
No one, until now.
Maren Sanchez would have been 21-years-old this month which is why Cimarelli set out to raise $21,000 for a camp for young girls through her “Maren sanchez Home Foundation” she founded after her daughter died.
“Young girls can come and leave feeling empowered. Leave feeling like they have more knowledge than when they came in about their self-respect and how to keep themselves safe,” she says.
Girls would learn team building, healthy eating and exercise habits even self defense.
“I knew that something had to happen in light of her death. I knew that there was a job for me to do,” Cimarelli says.
Although her daughter is gone she hopes her spirit will live on through the help she’ll be able to provide for future families.
“If you have a concern about anybody in your child`s life dig really, really deep. Don`t stop. Go to the school. Go to the other parents. Go to their friends. If you have a concern where you feel like in any way there`s any type of danger don`t leave any stone unturned,” she says.