5th-grader donates water bottles for entire school after fountains shut off due to COVID-19

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Alexis Blakeslee, a 5th grader at Dunedin Elementary, is stepping up for her classmates. Since the water fountains at her school have been turned off for safety due to COVID-19, all of the students are expected to bring their own water bottles to school, but not everyone can afford them.

“My friend Tamya was like, ‘I’m really thirsty. Where did you get your water bottle from?’ And I said, ‘Walmart,’ and she’s like, ‘Oh, my mom won’t be able to buy that for me.’”

Blakeslee was crushed to hear that her friend could not have the same things she could, so she took action. She started the ‘Water Bottles for Students’ project to collect water bottles for students who couldn’t afford them.

First, she asked local businesses if they would donate water bottles. No one would help, so she went to plan B. She started a GoFundMe page and raised $525 in a matter of weeks.

“It actually worked pretty good because our community pulled through and everyone gave a couple of dollars,” Blakeslee explained.

Blakeslee never thought she would have come this far.

“Never in a million years did I think I would be getting water bottles for the whole entire school,” she said. “I mean like, that’s a big deal!”

Christina Murphy, the assistant principal at Dunedin Elementary says Blakeslee impacted a lot of students.

“You can walk into our cafeteria, you can walk into our classrooms and you just see the evidence of her work and her giving heart,” Murphy shared.

Blakeslee is not stopping here. She will continue to raise money in hopes of donating water bottles to other schools.

“One person can change the whole, entire world,” Blakeslee said.

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