Christina Ott, a senior at the University of Wyoming, poses with a birthday cake. Recent efforts to raise money for Ott, who was injured in a car accident this summer, have totaled close to $5,000.
During the opening week of the semester, students banded together to raise funds after a car crash this summer left the community devastated and a University of Wyoming student fighting for her life.
Students put together both a bake sale and a benefit concert for Christina Ott.
Friends of Ott manned a table in the Wyoming Union breezeway last week, selling baked goods in an effort to raise money. By the end of the week, the bake sale had brought in $1460.77, according to Taylor Kath, a friend of Ott’s.
“We really want to thank everyone,” Kath said. “The university has been very supportive.”
Individuals from outside the theater and dance department sent emails offering to bake goods for the bake sale, she said. Others were just asking how they could give a donation. People throughout the community have also been asking what they can do to help, Kath said.
The Theater and Dance Department also hosted a benefit concert at Washakie Park in another effort to raise money for Ott.
Attendees were treated to a variety of choreographed dances, musicians and singers.
They also were informed that Ott had been moved out of the intensive care unit and into an acute care facility, and she is slowing being taken out of the drug induced coma, Lindsay Weatherly who helped plan the event, said.
The benefit drew 150 to 200 people and raised $3280.23.
“This was totally student-driven,” Professor Marsha F. Knight said about the fundraising efforts. “I was just a support for ideas, considerations and prompts. They did it all.”
As a student at UW, Ott is a senior majoring in International Studies and minoring in dance.
“I’ve taken classes with her since my freshman year,” Taylor Kath said. “And she was in my hip-hop club for fun, so she has always been pretty involved in dance. “
Kath got involved in helping raise money for Ott because she felt like she had to do something for a fellow student and friend, she said.
Ott is described as friendly, outgoing, talented and smart. As her condition continues to improve, friends and family post messages filled with hope and encouragement on her Facebook page.
“Everytime [sic] I hear good news about you, I just want to cry,” one friend said.
“She started her dance training late, and set her mind to accomplishment from the start,” Knight said. The strength of her determination has kept the hope of friends and family burning bright.
Donations for Ott are still being accepted. For more information contact Taylor Kath at tkath@uwyo.edu.
