Edgemont Community Holds Benefit for Lauren Spierer

Hundreds of friends, volunteers and supporters of missing Indiana University student and 2009 Edgemont High School graduate banded together last night to raise money for the Find Lauren Fund. 

Held at the Edgemont High School football field, "Take A Stand to # Find Lauren," a yoga fundraiser designed to help participants "enjoy simple yoga moves while sending positive energy and thoughts to bring Lauren back to Edgemont," collected funds to aid the search for Spierer, who disappeared on June 3 at 4:30 a.m. following a night out with friends. 

All participants were asked to bring a mat or a towel to sit on during the yoga session and contribute a $10 or $20 donation. 

“We want to do everything as a community to help her family bring her back home safely,” said yoga instructor Nancy Shenker, who helped conceptualize the evening's events along with Edgemont School District Superintendent Nancy Taddiken.

"It’s putting some positive energy out there. We've have people come from neighboring communities such as Scarsdale and even northern Westchester. Most of these kids know her and went to school with her,” Shenker said. 

“Nancy emailed me and said she wanted to do something,"  said Taddiken about planning the fundraiser with Shenker. 

"She was in Indiana at the time, and she asked about using our facility because she thought yoga could be a way to bring positive energy to bring Lauren back to Edgemont. It was an idea she conceived, and I wanted to help. All of us have had the Spierer family in our thoughts and prayers and feel a bit helpless about what we can do."

Taddiken, who was able to secure the use of Edgemont High School’s Blanford Field for the fundraiser, remembers Lauren as a conscientious, intellectually curious student.

“I can’t imagine how [her family] feels without knowing where she is. We’re all hoping for a miracle ending, but it’s serious stuff," Taddiken said.

Taddiken described Edgemont as a "small, close-knit community,” and recalled Spierer as a "great kid who was involved in lots of activities." 

Rebecca Lefkowitz, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student who helped organize the fundraiser, has known Spierer since the 7th grade. 

“Ally Shenker, [Nancy Shenker's daughter], and I helped organize this event. We were close with her in high school, and we maintained a relationship with her [after graduation]," Lefkowitz said.

"We’ve been back and forth to Indiana and would constantly visit each other...We’re... praying that she’ll be home safely soon." 

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