Airline helps Woodinville boy send goodbye note to Connecticut

A plea on Twitter helped a Woodinville, Wash. family find a way to grant the wish of a grieving relative in Newtown, Connecticut.

After 6-year-old Noah Pozner was shot and killed in his classroom, his mother asked that family members write notes to be buried with her son. In Woodinville, Noah’s 5-year-old cousin Ethan drew a picture with the message: “I love you Noah.” Ethan’s father, Alexis Haller had already flown back east for the funeral.

“Everybody was suffering so much and it’s been horrible, but we’re sticking together and we’re coming together as a family very strongly and we want to focus on making something positive out of it,” he told CNN’s Anderson Cooper.

Ethan’s mother, Victoria, worried that her family’s notes would not get to Connecticut in time for Monday’s funeral so she issued a plea on Twitter, which eventually made its way to JetBlue. The Daily News reports that a flight attendant picked up the cards at SeaTac Airport and they were flown to New York and then driven to Newtown, Conn.

And on Wednesday, the airline is flying Ethan and his mother to Connecticut to join the rest of the family.

Tragedy brings out the best and worst in people. While Alexis Haller was talking to CNN, he mentioned that there are some phony pleas for money, supposedly on behalf of victim’s families, including the family of Noah Pozner.

“There was a domain name set up in Noah’s name, and we challenged that and it’s been taken offline. We also were made aware of an e-mail scam,” said Haller.

There are legitimate funds for victims of the shooting, including Noah. His site is: noahsarkofhopefund.com.

Experts offer advice for people inclined to make donations. When visiting a website, look for contact information, including phone numbers, e-mail addresses and physical addresses. Make a phone call, try to talk to somebody or send an e-mail seeking more information. It’s up to the donor to make sure their money is going to a legitimate fund.