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Fairfield County resident Chelsea Phaire, a freshman at Immaculate High School in Danbury, appeared on Nickelodeon's "Nick News" show on Wednesday, Dec. 20, school officials announced.
The network reached out to Phaire to put the spotlight on her nonprofit organization, Chelsea’s Charity, which she founded at age 10 to provide art supplies to children in need.
Phaire's interest in charity work stemmed from her parents, who became her community service role models. Because she knew she could not do the same work they did because of her young age, she instead opted to start her own organization that focused on what she loved most—the arts.
"I wanted to start a charity focusing on the arts, because I used art a lot when I lost my grandfather at four and when I lost my favorite swimming teacher when I was eight," Phaire said, adding, "And when I found out that other children may not have access to art materials to use when they’re upset like I did, I knew I had to do something. So in 2019, for my 10th birthday, I asked for art supplies in lieu of birthday presents to get my charity started.”
Once she began her organization, it quickly gained traction, which soon included news coverage. This helped inspire people to donate materials en masse to Phaire's charity.
"From college kids giving up their Starbucks for crayons, to artists donating brand new art supplies and lessons, thousands of people have been able to help out in some way and that’s why we’ve given over 34,000 art kits in four years!” Phaire said.
Since starting Chelsea’s Charity, Phaire has made appearances on several popular television shows, including "Good Morning America," "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids Edition," "LIVE with Kelly and Ryan," the "Tamron Hall Show," "The Steve Harvey Show," the Disney Channel, and Amazon Prime’s "Regular Heroes" show, according to Immaculate High School staff.
Once she grew older, Phaire decided to attend Immaculate because of its focus on giving back to the community, she said.
"Honestly, I loved how dedicated Immaculate is to service and kindness. I thought it was really great that I saw how much IHS worked to normalize kindness and lift up their students and encourage peer empowerment,” Phaire said, continuing, "I also realized that my charity work and desire to help others wouldn’t be lost at IHS because it’s encouraged for us to all do our part to help our communities!”
Immaculate Principal Wendy Neil had only good words to say about Phaire's charity work.
"We are so proud of Chelsea for taking the initiative to make a difference in the lives of so many who are less fortunate," Neil said, adding, "She truly embodies our Mustang spirit and we’re thrilled to have her as part of our community. Keep up the great work Chelsea!”
Those looking to donate to Chelsea's Charity can do so by clicking here.
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