Montpelier Campers Raise $14K for Flood Relief With 'Hopebox Derby'

Campers making their vehicles Credit: Courtesy of Hannah Reid

Updated on July 27, 2023.

Driscoll Sinnott, 10, watched with envy last weekend as his mom, Hannah Reid, volunteered to help clean up downtown Montpelier, where all his favorite stores were in shambles.

The contamination from the floodwaters made it too dangerous for him to pitch in, Reid told her son.

But she had a different idea for how he could help. Driscoll and his brother, Bailey, were attending a camp at Wilder Arts Studio, where they were creating motorless vehicles to race in a soapbox derby at the end of the weeklong session. What if they turned the event into a “Hopebox Derby” and raised money from sponsors?

Maria Arsenlis, director of the camp and cofounder of the Montpelier makerspace, loved the idea. So Reid got to work, taking care of outreach and communication and recruiting other parents, who created T-shirts and a poster.

Driscoll made a promotional video with Arsenlis, in which he showed flooded Onion River Outdoors, where he got his first mountain bike, and lamented that all the candy went to waste at State Street candy store Delish.

“Please sponsor Montpelier and try to help it come back to normal, or at least better, maybe faster,” he said into the camera with a smile.

Arsenlis also opened the camp to kids whose parents wanted to volunteer in Montpelier and needed childcare, which added two kids to the eight-person camp. (Another 10 kids participated in an earlier session of the camp and will participate in the derby.)

The flooding has been hard in a different way for kids, who can’t fully understand the impact the way adults do but still want to help, Arsenlis said.

And help they certainly have. The kids’ appeals raised more than $14,000 for flood relief, donated to Montpelier Alive’s Flood Recovery Fund and the Vermont Community Foundation’s VT Flood Response & Recovery Fund.

The sponsors, more than 100 total, supported four teams that made “soapbox” cars from old bike parts: the Rainbow Royals, the Wings of Fire, the Ditch Pilots and the Vikings. The teams raced on July 22 at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier. There was also room for decorated bikes to join in; Reid wanted the derby to be a community event.

She’s also glad that the kids can have some agency in helping out.

“They’re worried, and they feel really very helpless,” Reid said. “And I think they are really excited about being able to have an impact and be a part of the community recovery effort.”

To sponsor the event or donate, click here.