The death of four-year-old Ayen Chol, above, has united a community, with Dorothy McKechnie, left, and Marianne Kampean helping to raise money for Ayen’s family. 69455 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
BY NATALIE GALLENTI
BRIMBANK residents have united in the wake of the tragic death of Ayen Chol.
A week after the four-year-old St Albans resident was mauled by a pitbull terrier in her home, the community has raised thousands of dollars to help the family, which only months ago lost its home in a fire.
St Albans Early Childhood Learning Centre called for donations in the days following the heartbreaking story and was overwhelmed with the response from the community.
The centre hosted a balloon release in memory of the preschooler and raised enough money to pay for her funeral, which took place on Friday.
Other fundraising events were held across the city, including a sausage sizzle and raffles at Victoria University Footscray campus.
Brimbank resident and liberal arts student Melissa Desantis organised the event after hearing about the tragedy.
Ms Desantis said she was overcome with grief in the days following Ayen’s death and felt compelled to do something to help the grieving family.
The mother of five said staff and students at VU were more than willing to help and everyone had joined in to make the day a huge success.
“I was crying for days,” she said.
“I just kept putting myself in that mum’s position.
“Everyone has come together and I was really surprised at how willing people were to help out.”
Ms Desantis said she was “amazed” at the outpouring of grief from the community and how deeply everyone had been affected by the heartbreaking event.
James van Maanenberg, president of the Liberal Arts Club, said the fundraising event showed that beyond race and ethnicity, what was important was the community coming together, being tolerant and offering support to their neighbours. He said at the core of the issue was the family who was left without their beloved child.
“What this is about is a mother losing her daughter,” Mr van Mannenberg said.
The Western Suburbs resident said the group hoped to raise as much money as possible to alleviate the burden on the grieving family.
