Ledyard Middle School Students Begin Fundraising For David's Place

White and yellow flowers are beginning to bloom underneath the Flowering Almond tree planted outside the last year. The tree, whose buds are swelling with life, stands , a seventh-grader who died unexpectedly last year on March 11.

“We take things one day at a time,” said David’s mother Mary Isbell of the grieving process. One thing that has brought her comfort, she said, is the community support she has received while starting a non-profit in her son's name.

David’s Place, she said, will be a “rec center for children to be able to come and be safe and all children will be welcome.”

Isbell said she is in the process of filing 501(c) papers to establish the business as a non-profit and has begun fundraising for the purpose of buying or leasing a space.

Isbell said she envisions a place for kids to come to after school where they can get help with homework, use a computer or play board and table games. Ideally, the space will be large enough for any host of indoor sports games.

“The concept is to get kids involved,” she said.

And, apparently the concept isn’t such a hard sell.

Ledyard Middle School students are participating in a coin drive this month with the proceeds going toward the establishment of David’s Place. At last count, they have donated $1,159.82 in small change to the cause.

“Kids just want to do something nice in his memory,” said Cheyenne Holliday, an eighth grader on student council who came up with the idea.  “It’s impressive and I’m so happy that the school community has gotten together to raise that money.”

Mary Isbell and her husband David were equally impressed with the outpouring of support from the community. Isbell maintains a Facebook page in David’s memory and she said the students who post to the page were profoundly moved by how her son lived his life.

“I didn’t realize what an impact he made on them,” she said. “He made them realize they want to live a good life.”

A portion of ticket sales to some school functions will be set aside for David’s Place, Isbell said, and future fundraising efforts include a rummage sale near the end of the school year.

“These kids are just so amazing,” she said. “There’s just not a lot of options for kids these days, this is just something we need around here.”

Isbell said she'd like to open the center in Ledyard or Gales Ferry and that the former Gales Ferry School or some portion of the Ocean State Job Lot shopping center may be suitable locations.

Donations can be made to David's Place, PO Box 275, Gales Ferry 06335