The eighth grade class at Jefferson Village School hosted a spaghetti dinner Friday night, raising about $2000 for the family of a 10-year-old burn victim and fellow student.
According to the boy’s aunt, Bethany Arbour, Dakota Boutte remains in stable condition at Boston’s Shriner’s Hospital where he is “eating on his own and speaking now.”
Boutte sustained first and second degree burns and was airlifted to Boston on April 13 after adding gasoline to a campfire at his Jefferson home.
The community’s sympathies were on full display Friday. In addition to the hearty turnout for dinner, a pitcher for donations near the entrance filled to overflowing and attendees took home over 30 raffle items donated by area businesses, including gift cards, clothing items and handmade furniture.
According to eighth grade teacher Michelle Duncan-Shaw, support and donations “just kept pouring in” in the weeks prior to the dinner.
Cheryl Bois, the parent of an eighth grader and wife of eighth grade teacher Randy Bois, helped Duncan-Shaw organize the event. “People have been dropping stuff off in the office all week,” said Bois. Often the generosity has come from “complete strangers.”
“I went to Bell’s [Liquidation, in Chelsea] to pick up the cake and a man just pulled $20 out of his pocket and gave it to me,” Bois said.
The teachers expressed pride in the eighth grade class, who spearheaded the project from beginning to end. At the dinner they served as volunteers, selling tickets, serving food, providing disc jockey services, announcing raffle winners, or, in the case of eighth grader Logan Allen, all of the above.
“I do everything,” Allen said in between clearing tables. “If they need something else I’ll run to the store and get it.”
“It means a lot more when the students initiate it,” said principal Peter Gallace. “It’s really drawn them together to think about others a lot more… it makes me happy to see everyone work together for a good cause.”
Duncan-Shaw also gave credit to her students. The dinner was “absolutely the students’ idea,” she said. “It’s a special time of year for these guys,” she said, as the students near graduation and prepare for high school.
Despite the tragic circumstances, the dinner gave them an opportunity “to give something back to their classmates,” said Duncan-Shaw, and, in the process, the students learned “how much support they have.”
“It brought us all closer together,” Allen said.
Michelle Dilendorf teaches seventh grade and helped her former students with the raffle portion of the evening. “I was in [Jefferson] Market when the call came in… I heard ‘a 10-year-old boy’ and my heart just sank…I knew it was one of ours.”
“It’s a big family,” she said in reference to the family of the young burn victim. “We all know them.”
Gallace hopes the family will be buoyed by the community’s show of solidarity. “The community really cares,” he said. “We’ll do whatever we can to help him out.”
