Briley Orton near her home in Enoch. (The Orton Family)
ENOCH, Utah — A fourth-grader in Iron County is proving you don’t have to be bigger or older to make a difference, with fundraising gone viral.
The 10-year-old girl wanted to start a fundraiser to help a classmate with cancer and now it could change the lives of two families.
“It’s really big for someone as small as me, but it’s going really good,” said Briley Orton.
There’s nothing small about Briley’s goals, her smile or her caring heart. She found out a girl at school had cancer and was pretty sick. She wanted to help her and her family, and started asking for donations.
Over spring break, Briley organized a bake sale. For six hours, she and her mom baked brownies, cookies and cupcakes, then individually wrapped them all, made signs, then sat outside selling their baked goods.
“I don’t know who would pay $50 for a brownie, but we had several people do that,” said Brittney Orton who is Briley’s mom.
Meanwhile, the girl at school got better. And the family said they were fine; they actually didn’t need money. The Ortons heard of two other families in Enoch who did. They are also facing cancer diagnoses and are struggling right now.
This note from Briley about what kickstarted the whole fundraising efforts.
“You know, I would have never thought of this idea when I was 10, like there’s no way. So we’re really proud of her and proud of her big idea,” said mom Brittney.
Briley’s family said she has always been a caring and compassionate child, especially for others with disabilities. It comes from being a big sister to three other children, including her beautiful 8-year-old sister, Chloe.
“When Chloe was a baby, we just had figured out she had Down syndrome, and a lot of people helped us. And, with that, I just kind of wanted to give that to someone else,” Briley said.
Briley has raised $4,000, so far. She would like to raise $10,000. They are trying to spread the word to reach beyond Enoch and the Cedar City area.
Briley and her sister Chloe Orton.
(Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News used with permission)
The Three Peaks Elementary school PTA is officially collecting all of the money. It’s on their website, called Briley’s Rattlers, because the school mascot is the Rattler. This way people know it’s an actual fundraiser with 100% of donations going to the families.
“We’ve had lots of help from our family and friends and lots of strangers that we don’t even know which is supercool,” said Brittney Orton.
The fundraiser will go on for a few more weeks. The Ortons hope to be able to present the checks to the families at a school assembly before the school year is out.
Brittney became emotional when talking about how hard her daughter has worked to help the families.
“I’m not sure I could really say how proud I am of her. I’ve never met a more selfless kid in my entire life. She is so kind and so caring and so loving to everybody. And to see her be successful in this has really meant a lot to me, because she’s put a lot of time and a lot of effort into it,” said Brittney.
The Ortons said donations can be made through their PTA on Memberhub through May 10 or by sending a check made out to the Three Peaks PTA for Briley’s Rattlers to PO Box 1689 Cedar City Utah 84720.
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