Fourth-Grader Raises $600 for Novi Fire Department After Devastating Blaze

After 10-year-old Carter Cojei heard about the two weeks ago, he decided that something should be done to help them.

"I saw how terrible the fire was and felt bad for the people," he said.

Carter's first idea was to find a way to donate money to the family, but they declined any donations because they have insurance.

But he decided he could still help families who suffer losses in the future by raising money for the . After some brainstorming, he came up with an idea that raised more than $600.

Helping Hats

Last week, Carter, who is in the fourth grade, decided that he could ask his classmates at to help raise money.

He came up the idea for Helping Hats, which allowed students to wear hats on Friday if they brought at least $1 to donate.

Carter approached his teacher, Michelle Donberger, to help him organize the fundraiser. Together Carter, Donberger and some of the students developed a plan, made posters to hang in the school and created a flier to announce the day to students.

"This is just like him," Donberger said. "He is such a kind and thoughtful boy."

On Friday, the students wore their hats, and Carter and his classmates traveled to each classroom to collect the funds in plastic fire hats that had been dropped off by the Fire Department.

Carter was truly the head of the project; his parents didn't even know about it until Donberger emailed them later in the week.

Carter's mother, Debora Cojei, said she was proud that he came up with the idea on his own.

"Carter's my youngest of three kids, and he's always kind of looking out for the other guy — you know, the other kid in the classroom who maybe has something going on," she said. "He seems to be keenly aware of his surroundings. When it occurred, I was surprised that I didn't know about it, but I wasn't surprised that this is something that he wanted to do."

Carter, who lives in Novi, has previously shown leadership in giving back. He has had lemonade stands every summer with his older sisters to raise money for different causes. As a child with Crohn's disease, he has frequently raised money for others with the disease.

Recognizing Carter

Although Carter's parents didn't know about Helping Hats at first, they were on hand at Novi Woods on Wednesday morning when Novi Fire Department officials surprised Carter with a visit to recognize him for his leadership.

David Molloy, Novi director of public safety and chief of police, and Jeff Johnson, director of EMS and fire operations, stopped by the school with a fire truck to publicly thank Carter and the other students for their donations.

Carter was also given a Challenge Coin, which the Fire Department grants to firefighters or community members who do something exemplary for the department.

"He is just an outstanding example of a student that came up with a unique way to help us out, so we wanted to honor him," Johnson said.

The money raised will be used to purchase supplies for youth fire prevention and education.

After just three days of planning and one day of wearing hats, the students raised $636.86. And $25 of that came from Carter's own savings.