When 11 year old Liam Carusi saw the devastation from the wildfires in Australia, no one imagined how his desire to help would make a difference.

Liam is the youngest son of Label Innovation’s Sales & Marketing Director Paul Carusi. With the help of his peers at W.O. Mitchell Elementary School in Ottawa, Liam  launched a fundraiser. This fundraiser involved students creating an image of a leafless tree that is displayed in the foyer of the Bridlewood school. For every dollar donated, a leaf would be placed onto the tree. All the money raised goes directly to the Australia Wildlife and Nature Recovery Fund. It was an initiative that gained momentum and spread beyond Liam’s imagination.

When Ottawa’s Your Community Voice Kanata caught wind of the initiative, they saw a story worth telling. The newspaper featured an article about Liam and his peers’ efforts in their January 23rd paper. As the published article brought greater attention to their efforts, the donations came in. Label Innovation was eager to support this worthy cause and also made a donation to help recovery efforts.

It’s a small example of how making a difference locally can help transform a community to make change globally. “It’s good to know the money will help people and the animals who are just roaming and lost,” said Liam, whose parents were born and raised in Australia. “I don’t want anybody to be hurt and I just think about all those animals. I wanted to do something to help them.”

For more information about W.O. Mitchell Elementary School’s fundraiser, call (613) 271-1806.