How Africa News
A scholarship fund has been established in the memory of a Massachusetts girl who died after being hit by a tractor-trailer in Andover.
At the junction of Elm and Main streets in Elm Square on Tuesday evening, Sidney Olson, 5, of Andover, was struck by a Sysco truck.
The Sidney Mae Olson Rainbow Scholarship Fund was established as a result of a collaboration between Sidney’s parents and the Andover-based SHED Children’s Campus, where their daughter was enrolled.
For those who cannot afford it, all contributions to the scholarship fund will be utilized to pay for enrolment in SHED’s “curiosity-based” programs for pre-K, kindergarten, and school-aged children.
“Many in the community have asked how they can help, and this is exactly what our daughter would want you to do,” reads a statement from Eric Olson and Mary Beth Ellis. “Sid sprung fearlessly into every day with curiosity, creativity and love for her community. She wanted nothing more than for people to come together in shared experiences — in nature, in the classroom, anywhere.
“She was known for her soft-spoken style of building bonds across groups, and memorably asked for her birthday party to be a rainbow theme because ‘it’s everyone’s favorite colors,'” her parents stated. “In her spirit of boundless love and inclusion, we hope this fund provides an opportunity to children who would not otherwise have it — and that it adds rich diversity to the SHED community for years to come.”
The Olson family expressed their gratitude for the community’s outpouring of love and support and said they intended to maintain the scholarship fund for many years to preserve Sidney’s memory at “the place that ignited her creative and caring spirit.”
Click here if you wish to donate to the Sidney Mae Olson Rainbow Scholarship Fund.
