Mineola 6-year-old wins $25,000
Kaiden Morovati, 6, a kindergartner at Willis Avenue School in Mineola, became the national grand prize winner of an instant win fundraising contest by Innisbrook Wraps, a company that supplies schools with products for charity events. (Dec. 22, 2011) Credit: Handout
When 6-year-old Kaiden Morovati sold more than $300 worth of chocolates and gifts to neighbors and family for his school's PTO fundraiser, he had no idea that giving back so much would lead him to win $25,000.
On Thursday, Morovati, a kindergartner at Willis Avenue School in Mineola, became the national grand prize winner of an instant win fundraising contest by Innisbrook Wraps, a company that supplies schools with products for charity events.
When Morovati brought home a catalog of gifts from school, his father, Bobby, helped him sell products to family friends and log the orders on Innisbrook's website.
"We didn't even know about the contest," said Bobby Morovati, 40, of Albertson. "We just raised the money to help the school out. It was a bit of a shock when we got the call."
Lori Aponte, the Nassau County representative for Innisbrook, had been trying to get a hold of the Morovati family for a week until she was finally able to tell them what they had won.
“I was absolutely blown away when I found out that out of the whole country, someone from one of my schools won,” Aponte said. “I was so overwhelmingly excited you would have thought I won the prize.”
A small ceremony was held at the school earlier this week where representatives from Innisbrook presented Morovati with a cardboard check that was almost as tall as him. Mineola School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Nagler, Willis Avenue principal Dr. SueCaryl Fleischmann and Morovati's parents were also in attendance.
“They are such a great, deserving family,” said Aponte, who handed Morovati the large check.
After taxes, all the money will be put straight into Morovati's college savings account.
"It's not my money or my wife's money. It's my son's money," the boy’s father said.
Although it was a large sum of money, Morovati's father said the boy still doesn't quite grasp the extent of his winnings.
"He's much more concerned about the erasers and dolls he won by selling $333 worth of products," his father said.
Photo: Kaiden Morovati with his $25,000 "check." (Dec. 22, 2011)
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