'Capes For Kids' Collecting Superhero Capes For Newtown Students

For the youngest survivors of the Newtown shooting, one group is working to give them a little extra 'superpower' to help them heal.

In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, Camella Mollica and her daughter Allison Anderson, 13, were determined to find a way to embolden the most vulnerable survivors, the Hartford Courant reports. The pair, from Wethersfield, Conn., quickly came up with Capes for Kids, a program that is collecting capes for every elementary and middle school student in Newtown -- 3,200 in all, the New York Daily News reports.

"These kids saw horrific things," Mollica told the paper. "So we said, 'We're going to make you superheroes for a day.'"

Within 24 hours of establishing Capes for Kids, the group received over 1,000 donations, Mollica told the Courant. Contributions continue to pour in from local schools, companies and volunteers and there’s even talk of organizing a “Superhero Day” when Sandy Hook Elementary School students return to class in Monroe, Conn., after the holidays, according to the news outlet.

Capes for Kids is one of a number of goodwill initiatives set up for the young survivors of the Dec. 14 shooting that claimed the lives of 20 children and six faculty members.

A group of knitters is working on making stuffed animals for all 600 students at Sandy Hook Elementary School and Kim Piscatelli, a Connecticut mom, is collecting copies of "The Kissing Hand" and a pair of mittens for each Sandy Hook student, according to the Associated Press.

"Everybody wants to help," Piscatellitold the AP. "Everybody's looking for some way to reach out."

Cape donations can be dropped off at Northwest Catholic High School, 29 Wampanoag Drive, West Hartford, through Dec. 21 or shipped to Camella Mollica at 31 Cedar Street Wethersfield, CT 06109. The group also accepts monetary donations to purchase capes. Learn more here.