Latin School of Chicago

student profiles Lindsay Peigh '18 For fourth grader Lindsay Peigh, helping other people isn't defined by age. "I am 9, but you don't have to be a certain age to make a difference," Lindsay says. When the devastating earthquake in Haiti made the news, Lindsay for the first time became aware of the small Caribbean country, its challenges of poverty and the terrible conditions in which people were living. "Learning about the earthquake and especially about the children, I felt that I couldn't just let it happen without trying to do something." Lindsay put a great deal of thought into what she, as a kid, could do to help. Baking is one of her favorite hobbies, so she came up with the idea of selling cookies and brownies. With her mother's help, Lindsay created a flier and distributed an order form for baked goods to the neighbors in her high-rise and some of her teachers at Latin. As her mother, Cindy Fluxgold, describes the project, "Everyone wanted Lindsay's homemade cookies and brownies. Everyone responded. Everyone wanted to help. We were baking and baking all day and evening for days. Our home, the vestibule, the elevator, all carried the sweet scent of chocolate." "There were pots, pans and sugar all over the place," Lindsay explains. She and her mom delivered the orders in plastic bags and added a personal note to each package. This is not the first time that Lindsay has been inspired to come up with her own creative ways to help other people. Her experiences with outreach efforts in the lower school and her family's commitment to service have long informed her feelings of responsibility to a wider community. Yet, her earliest independent service endeavors came from passion close to her heart. Lindsay's grandmother died of 6 Latin Magazine "I am 9, but you don't have to be a certain age to make a difference." Lou Gehrig's disease, and each summer Lindsay sets up a lemonade stand to raise money to combat the disease. She posts a handmade sign that informs the public that all proceeds go to this cause, and she donates all the money she makes to the Les Turner Foundation, which funds research and patient care at Northwestern University Hospital for people with Lou Gehrig's. Her experiences have taught Lindsay some valuable life lessons. "Even one person can make a difference," says Lindsay, "but a whole community can do even more, because the feeling of helping others spreads. We can't always just let things happen. Some grown-ups think we kids can't do much. But kids CAN make a difference, and we can start now." Her bake sale this winter certainly proved Lindsay right. With a little elbow grease and a lot of determination, she was able to raise $1,231 for Haiti. The money was donated to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund. n

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