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Classrooms and hallways at NS grew quiet on Wednesday, Feb. 26, as collection tins were passed around to raise money for the Morris family. Students and teachers alike deposited their donations into the cans.
All around the district, similar fundraising efforts were being made. That day, around than $3,100 were contributed at NS alone in a student organized fundraising event. In total more than $15,500 have been raised after Robert and Evelyn Morris were involved in a car accident just south of Fairview on the night of Monday, February 24. Evelyn died shortly after the crash and her husband, Robert, was seriously injured.
Two of her children, Jedidiah, a junior, and Ahnali, a freshman, are students at NSH. The younger siblings, Isabel and Cynthia, are students at the middle school and Fairview elementary.
Since the accident, there has been a great outpouring of love and support from the school and community. Kerri Hamerick, Evelyn’s sister, who is taking care of the kids for now, says that the family is just overwhelmed by the love and support from the community.
“The support has been incredible,” Hamerick said. “We have had food brought in, we have had gifts brought in, we have had flowers given, we have had money donated by all of the students at all three schools.”
She is thankful for all of the support and for those who were willing to get involved and help out.
“I got to meet those two young men that started that,” Hamrick said. “They came to the house, and I got to meet them, and I got to meet their parents. And I told their parents, ‘Thank you for raising such thoughtful individuals.’”
Luke Jackson and Jackson Larson are two students at NS who organized the fundraising efforts at the school, and they are glad that they were able to help show support for the Morris family.
“Where we knew Jed forever, we’ve known him since kindergarten, he’s just always been a good friend and we knew that he needed help,” Larson said.
And they are grateful to all of those who helped by donating and spreading the word.
“We made a Snapchat story, and then really just everybody shared it on all social media,” Larson said. “Thanks to everybody that donated.”
The NS student body also got involved helping show their support in other ways.
“We made a card for them, like we’ve done for other schools, we tried to make it a little bit more personal,” said NS student body president Trey Robison. “We just had everybody sign it during lunches and we just let the kids know that we’re there for them.”
But it is not just the schools that are trying to help out, the entire community has reached out to help show support for the Morris family.
“It’s because of the thoughtfulness, kindness and generosity of the people in this community that knew her, or knew her children, that [is] making it possible for us to not have as many things staring us down,” Hamrick said.
In another act of kindness from the community, the local ambulance EMT crew donated their time to help out the Morris family.
“This affects more than just the school, it affects the whole community,”said Cami Hathaway, a teacher at NS and a local EMT on the ambulance crew.
Due to his critical condition, Robert Morris would have been unable to attend his wife’s funeral services unless he was driven in an ambulance. Hathaway, along with others from the local ambulance crew donated their time on Saturday, March 7, to bring Robert down from Utah Valley in an ambulance so that he could attend the funeral services.
“Every EMT on that ambulance donated their time, and the city of Mount Pleasant donated the ambulance and the fuel for him to come to the funeral of his wife,” Hamrick said. “All of that was donated, we didn’t have to pay anything for it.”
But Hathaway says that they were glad to be able to help out.
“The whole crew is donating their time,” Hathaway said. “It’s just a way to give back and help out.”
Hamrick and the Morris family are so grateful for all of the love and support that they have received and would just like to thank everyone that has contributed
“We thank all of the thoughtful individuals who have made it possible for the kids to have new clothes, and the bills to get paid, and the funeral costs to be taken care of, things are just getting taken care of left and right,” Hamrick said. “The words thank you do not express the gratitude that we feel in our hearts towards everyone.”
