By Derrick Forsythe Record Staff Writer What began as a thoughtful act of generosity by a 6-year-old Warrenton girl has turned into a social media fundraising frenzy. Last Wednesday night, as Ava …
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Ava's Challenge turns $5 into thousands
Posted
By Derrick ForsytheRecord Staff WriterWhat began as a thoughtful act of generosity by a 6-year-old Warrenton girl has turned into a social media fundraising frenzy.Last Wednesday night, as Ava Tallo was leaving her birthday party, she mentioned to her parents, Nick and Amy, her desire to donate $5 from the occasion to a charity. In particular, she wanted to help a charity that provides food to the less fortunate.“I see a lot of people who don’t have enough money to buy food, so I thought about using $5 of my birthday money to buy some food for Operation Backpack. I thought it was a really good choice to do,” said Ava, a kindergartner at Warrior Ridge Elementary School.Encouraged by their daughter’s selflessness, her parents decided to each match her gift of $5. A week later, that simple act has been multiplied by the dozens, resulting in $3,120 raised through 154 gifts for the Warren County R-III School District-based charity.The organization helps supply food for students who do not have resources to meet their nutritional needs over the weekends or other times when they are not able to eat school meals.“My mom and dad talk about it a lot, and I heard about it through church,” said Ava.The tremendous response came after Ava’s generous act was shared on Facebook. Others began to match her donation, with many offering larger gifts of $50 or $100. In an effort to accurately collect and keep track of the donations, Nick started a GoFundMe page.“By Thursday night when we went to bed, it was already at $300,” said Amy. “We were blown away.”Once the weekend rolled around, $1,900 had been collected.“We’re proud of her for that choice she made,” Amy said. “Past that, we can’t take credit for this. For us, it’s a God thing.”Amy says she and Nick used the Bible reference of Jesus multiplying the bread and fish to feed 5,000 to put the situation into light for their daughter.Ava says she never imagined her $5 bill would make such an impact.“It was amazing,” she said. “It makes me feel super happy. I loved it when I saw how much money we raised.”The Tallos have raised their goal to $5,000 and plan to keep the GoFundMe page open through Jan. 3.“We’ll definitely keep it open through the end of this year, because we’ll be with family members who will want to give, and we know there are others who may still be interested,” added Amy.To donate, go to gofundme.com and search for Ava’s $5 Challenge.
Ava Tallo holds up some of the money she has collected as part of her $5 challenge. Submitted photo.
