MORGANTOWN — Known by her fans as “The Space Gal,” Emily Calandrelli is making a difference right here on Earth.
Many know Calandrelli for her Ada Lace books, her show “Xploration Outer Space” and her time on “Bill Nye Saves the World.” The West Virginia native is giving back to her home state with a GoFundMe effort to raise money for STEM toys for underprivileged children.
Calandrelli previously did the same thing in San Francisco, where she lives, because she wanted to wrap the gifts and deliver them to the organizations that work with kids and families in poverty in the city.
“Then I realized I could just send the toys directly to nonprofits. Also, I wouldn’t have to wrap 1,000 toys myself and I was like, well, if I can do that I might as well send them to West Virginia just so I can give back to my home state,” she said.
The toys will make it to a handful of West Virginia counties via nonprofits, including those in Boone, Cabell, Kanawha and Clay. The poverty levels in these counties are higher than the national average.
“I basically wanted to get these toys in the hands of the kids who need it the most,” she said.
Calandrelli said STEM toys are great because they give children the chance to imagine themselves as scientists, engineers and allows them to think of careers they might not have considered. These toys are often more expensive and might not be donated as often.
The last time Calandrelli raised money for toys, her goal was $4,000. This year it’s goal is $7,000, and as of Tuesday, she’d raised $6,355. Deadline for the donations is Dec. 14.
“I am very, very over the mountain happy with the level of support that we have,” she said.
Every $25 buys a toy for a child. Calandrelli said these counties work with around 1,000 kids collectively and every bit raised adds one more child to the list. So right now, she could buy about 254 toys.
Calandrelli picks toys based on age ranges and a mix of different sciences. Some are kits where kids can build things like cannon launchers, a pinball machine or walking robots. She also picked out a chemistry set geared toward girls that works with the chemistry of color and light. For older kids, she chose kits where they can build their own electronics projects.
Calandrelli is seeing a positive shift in STEM careers and awareness in West Virginia. She commended WVU for its engineering program and award-winning robotics team.
Another thing she mentioned was the Green Bank Telescope located in southern West Virginia that is world renowned.
“Something like that being in West Virginia and West Virginia having that kind of asset is just a huge plus for our state. We have a lot of resources for kids who are interested in science and tech and some of the best resources in the world for kids who want to pursue that,” she said.
Calandrelli said science can seem daunting if you have no experience with it. All science is, she said, is being curious and learning how to play with your curiosity in a constructive way.
“Basically we’re just trying to open their eyes to this option that they may have never even considered before,” she said.
Twitter @DominionPostWV
SMarino@DominionPost.com
