17-year-old girl assembles Eid gift bags for kids impacted by San Diego mosque shooting

Emily Coffey
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A 17-year-old girl named Sarah Abdin is spreading hope in the aftermath of the deadly mosque shooting at the Islamic Center of San Diego by assembling Eid gift bags for children impacted by the tragedy.

Sarah said she was motivated in part by a personal connection to the shooting and the compassion she felt for her community.

"My friend's little sister was literally in the first classroom they could possibly access," Sarah said.

That connection drove her to act.

"I thought if I were in these kids' places, experiencing something so tragic and traumatic ... I would want to be, you know, surrounded by community and family members," Sarah said.

Sarah has spent hours assembling 150 gift bags filled with posters, small toys, puzzle pieces, slime, acrylic painting kits and treats.

She raised over $2,000 through a GoFundMe in 48 hours to fund the project. The bags are set to be distributed in the next few days.

Sarah and her sister have put significant time into the effort.

The gift bags are fully funded, but Sarah says additional donations will go toward adding more items to the existing bags or making even more bags.

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