It’s never easy to lose a friend, especially when that friend had her whole life ahead of her. That’s why a few Elma teens got together recently to bake dog treats for their best friend, Rachel Lofaso.
“There is something truly healing about being in the kitchen,” said Michael Mitri, a special education teacher and track coach at Iroquois CSD who helped bring the friends together for this fun activity. “Rachel was on my track team from seventh grade. She loved animals and wanted to be a vet and I just knew we were hurting and wanted to be together in some way.”
And so the friends did. They came together to bake dogs treats to raise money in honor of Rachel, who was tragically killed in a car crash on Jan. 14.
“We all talked about how we still heard her voice and laugh during the day….and we all agreed that we “saw her in the hall” so many times during the day. It was just nice for us to share stories together like that,” said Mitri.
The students will sell the dog treats for $5 each around school with an order form they made. Their goal is to raise enough money to buy a dog water fountain and have it put in a local park with a nice plaque about Rachel.
A heartwarming video was made of the girl’s time together.
https://www.facebook.com/michael.mitri/posts/10155130984437127
“I just wanted the kids to have fun again and laugh like Rachel always did,” said Mitri.
If you would like to order a dog treat, you can also email Mitri at mmitri@iroquoiscsd.org. In the end the girls are thinking that they can pass this “business” on to people with special needs.
“The girls all want to job coach to help get the business going. That is an ultimate goal someday.”
After car crash kills Iroquois High student, community comes together to keep her memory alive
