EAST LANSING, Mich. — You may remember the young Michigan girl who organized a bake sale last year for detained immigrants at the United States and Mexico border.
She’s back organizing for immigrants again with the same passion for a different cause.
This year she’s partnering with local organizations to raise money for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
11-year-old Luci Hylen and her younger siblings set out to send a message on Sunday that you’re never too young to make a difference.
“This is sourdough,” said Lucci while trying to help a customer make a bread selection. “ I never thought that they would be like a good mix together but they're really good,” she continued while talking to another customer.
Putting together a bake sale is hard work, especially when the organizer is an 11-year-old trying to make a difference.
“People are being separated from their families and that’s not right, said Lucci. “Just imagine you being separated from your family so that just makes me sick.”
Imagining just that, Luci decided to raise money for the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center.
After seeing a video of parents separated from children in Mississippi, she got her siblings involved too.
“My sister just watched something on the news about it and she saw people getting arrested and stuff so she was like we should do a bake sale,” said her 8-year-old sister Piper Hylen.
Just like that, for the second year in a row, Luci pitched first her family, then her community for help.
“I’ve just been really honest and forthcoming with her about the immigration crisis and all my kids, and she said how can we help,” said her mom Tali Feris-Hylen.
Lucci took her siblings and friends and went into stores like Whole Foods, Campbell’s Market Basket, Breadsmith, even Meijer to get sponsors.
“I just had a piece of paper and I just asked them to donate,” said Lucci.
Feris- Hylen says Lucci’s taken control of the bakesale the whole way and it’s a good learning experience.
“It’s been amazing because they can see by organizing something at a grassroots level it makes a really big impact and I think they’ll carry that with them for the rest of their lives,” said Feris-Hylen.
Their total in donations for Sunday was $2,100. The Hylen family tells Fox 47 they are still accepting money through their church, Edgewood United in East Lansing.
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