By Laura Lane
They were watching cartoons on TV when Peter decided to flip through the channels. He stopped short when he spotted a program on Darfur, a region of western Sudan torn apart by civil war.
Tess watched intently with her father. Although the 12-year-old student at the Progressive School of Long Island, a private school in Merrick, was aware of the conflict in Darfur, she'd never seen interviews with anyone affected by the turmoil. Putting a face on the tragedy that continues to unfold there was upsetting. Tess had many questions.
"It was really scary," said Tess. "Women and children that survived the genocide told their stories. It was so sad. I knew there was a war there, but I didn't know how intense it was."
Peter said that he couldn't get over how moved Tess was by the program. "That special was riveting, so well done," said Peter. "When they said how hard it is to get any money in there to help, I said, 'Boy, you can't really do anything to help.' Tess didn't say anything."
A couple of weeks later Peter heard that a fund-raiser at Tess's school was being organized to benefit Darfur. He thought it was a great idea, but didn't realize his daughter was spearheading it.
"I was surprised," said Peter, adding that he was proud of his daughter. "But you know, Tess is self-assured but not blustery, and she's very humble."
"The First Ever Darfur Fashion Show" raised more than $2,000, which Tess will send to the United Nations Children's Fund, formerly called the U.N. International Children's Emergency Fund, to help the women in Darfur and provide immunizations for their babies, as well as to savedarfur.org, an international coalition of humanitarian organizations that is raising funds for and awareness of Darfur.
The Darfur fashion show fulfilled a fund-raising elective available to children in the fourth to seventh grades at the Progressive School. But Tess's teacher Debra Falkenberg said that a fund-raiser to help the people in Darfur had never been done before.
"The students do the electives on their own," Falkenberg said. "They choose what they'd like to do and ask us to approve the idea. Many of the students fund-raise money for animals - humanitarian issues. And we sometimes do car washes as a fund-raiser."
Falkenberg and Tess's other teacher, Shelly Spivak, were so impressed by the fund-raiser, and proud that their school could help, that they decided to continue it every year. "We keep telling Tess we'd like for her to come and supervise it for us to do next year," said Falkenberg, adding that Tess will graduate from the school this year. "The life lessons she learned made this so valuable. And the outcome is wonderful because it's something the children can see."
Tess feels fortunate that everything fell into place. She's only watched fashion shows on TV before. But when she received the support she needed from her friends and teachers at the Progressive School, she knew she could pull it off.
"Doing this was a lot more hectic than I thought," said Tess, who spent a great deal of time calling different restaurants to find an appropriate location for the event. "I think I learned organization and social skills, making the phone calls to all of the different places and speaking to adults."
The manager of The Wantagh Inn, where the fund-raiser was held, thought that Tess was an adult. "She thought she was dealing with a 19-year-old when she spoke to Tess on the phone," said Falkenberg, smiling. "She seemed so happy to meet Tess when we stopped by to talk about the table settings and details. Tess really is very charismatic."
Even though it was difficult to find the appropriate restaurant, it was far harder locating a store willing to temporarily lend its clothing to be modeled. "That was the most challenging, and I got rejected from so many stores," Tess said. "I think this taught me how to cope with rejection. And rejection is something you have to deal with your whole life."
On the night of the fund-raiser, Tess and four girls modeled the clothing from Mandee, a clothing store specializing in youthful clothing. And there were plenty of baskets raffled off. More than 50 people attended.
"It was fun planning this out, and I think I may have opened up a few career ideas that I wouldn't have thought had I not done this," Tess said. "This was such a success I just never imagined it would be. The satisfaction you get after doing this you can't put into words."
Comments about this story? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
