Monroe High sophomore raising funds to help Syrians

Monroe High sophomore Aubrey Springer has been touched by the crisis in Syria, and since late 2016 she’s been raising funds to support the people impacted by violence and displacement.

“I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, it’s just something that stuck with me,” she said.

Springer’s parents, Becky and Joe Springer, own S5designs, a custom apparel and screen-printing company. Using the resources at hand, the Monroe High sophomore launched her first fundraising effort at the end of 2016, selling a shirt of her own design, which reads, “Out Of Darkness We Will Shine,” a quote used by Together Rising.

She brought the fundraiser back in June 2017, and again earlier this month.

“I’ve learned a lot about designing, and I’m taking yearbook and photography in school,” Springer said.

Her last campaign, which raised $800 for Together Rising, a nonprofit helping people working on the ground in Syria, was so successful she decided to honor requests to reopen T-shirt sales back up on Sunday, April 15. In less than 24 hours, she raised another $450, and plans to keep the sale going as long as she can keep up with the demand.

“I don’t think I’ll be closing it until the demand gets to that point,” she said. “We have orders from 15 states already, I think, plus from Canada.”

Springer said she was also inspired by author Glennon Doyle and the work she’s been doing with Together Rising and her recent love flash mob fundraiser.

The United States, Britain and France have responded to a suspected April 7 chemical attack in Syria by launching missile strikes on reported weapons sites. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called the strikes an act of aggression, and denies a chemical attack happened at all.

The United States has taken in just 11 Syrian refugees so far this year as the country continues to be ravaged by war.

Springer said she knows there’s a lot of politics surrounding the crisis in Syria, but she just sees those affected as human beings in need of help, and that’s why she’s doing this.

“They’re just like you and me. Their needs aren’t different, except with the exceptional situation they’re in right now their needs are different,” she said.

A Holocaust survivor recently came to Springer’s school, she said.

“She said, ‘We’re all human, we all bleed red.’ That’s just a fact,” Springer said. “I want good things to hear on the news. I want positive things to show up when you go online.”