From Right: Jordan Galbraith stands with her friend Mackenzie Ryan, brother Caleb, and father Trent, after an afternoon of waving her arms and flagging down neighbours and passersby to raise money for Haiti.

ENFIELD: Most people driving home from work usually leave from point A and travel to point B with few distractions. But if you were driving down an Enfield side road in the late sun on a chilly Jan. 27, some enthusiastic kids waving and yelling to flag you down may have caught your eye.

Jordan Galbraith, a Grade 5 student at Enfield Elementary School decided she wanted to do something to help Haiti. So one day she came home and started to make bookmarks, with the idea of selling several for 50 cents or a dollar and donating the proceeds to her family’s church for relief efforts in Haiti. Jordan stood by her local post office boxes and in her driveway of her Enfield home waving down and trying to catch the attention of those passing by on their way home from work.

“When I came home from work she was making bookmarks out of construction paper. She told me what she wanted to do, so I said we should get some supplies and make a sturdier product. I got her some bristol board and some felt bookmarks and she made them all herself,” said Sandra Galbraith, Jordan’s mother.

Jordan decorated some of the cardboard and felt bookmarks with stickers and beads. Then her family helped make signs to flag people down. Accompanied by her father, brother and friend, she stood outside of her Enfield home on Jan. 27 in her first attempt to grab people’s attention to sell bookmarks.

“It was all her idea and all we really did was support her and provide her with some materials, and she came up with the whole plan of where she was going to sell them,” said Sandra.

Jordan’s father Trent Galbraith said he was moved when his daughter told him what she wanted to do.

“It was quite a touching moment actually. She had seen the news about the devastation in Haiti, and she’s often had a very keen ear for current events. This was all Jordan’s grand scheme,” said Trent.

Jordan said she wasn’t exempt from the images that have been plastered through the media lately about the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.

“I was watching a television show on Haiti a couple of weeks ago, they were showing how bad it was and different pictures of where they set up the health care and hospitals. They just had them under tents and sometimes just out in the open,” said Jordan.

This seed was further watered when her class was learning about Haiti in school.

“I learned that some medicine over there only costs five cents, I know there are still many people still missing, and I know their family members don’t know if they’re alive or not. I thought maybe medicine could help others get better and help search, and of course help the people that they found,” said Jordan about why she initially thought of the idea.

Jordan enjoys popular books and movies as much as the next kid, and takes piano lessons and spends her time with friends. As a youngster with a social conscience who only wanted nothing but to help people across the world, Jordan Galbraith may stand as an example of being able to do anything you set your mind to.

“It’s wonderful, that she’s thinking of others without any prompting, and she had it all planned out before I even knew she was considering it. She was organized, and she knew what she wanted to do, and we were just here to support her,” said Sandra.

Jordan’s parents also took the extra step to see if they could help by bringing some of her bookmarks to sell at work. Of the five Sandra took to work, she received an order for 10 more. Along with her efforts to flag down passersby, by Jan. 28, she had raised $38.22 to donate to relief efforts for Haiti.

“We’re very proud of her; that she attempted to do it all on her own even, we were just happy to provide some extra support to help her along,” said Sandra.

Although she’s received much positive feedback from members of her family, adults and those who decided to contribute to her efforts, Jordan kept her mind on why she began this project.

“I thought the people of Haiti didn’t deserve this, because they are really nice and they deal with a lot because they’re really poor; I thought they could use a helping hand,” said Jordan.

acano@enfieldweeklypress.com