Record-Setting Harvard Student Starts Charity Club

A Harvard University freshman is making waves on the Cambridge, Mass., campus.

Laura D'Asaro holds the world record for the fastest mile crawl, a mark she set as a high school junior. Her feat, which involved her literally crawling on her hands and knees for a mile, helped her raise more than $5,000 for the American Cancer Society. Now, D'Asaro wants to earn more cash for charities by starting a club at Harvard that will raise money by breaking more world records, the Crimson reports.

D'Asaro's money-raising past is littered with success. She sold lemonade and cookies in 2006 to raise $13,500 to help fund a playground in a park near her home in Washington state. In 2007, she and her classmates recorded and distributed 150 books on tape to disadvantaged children, the report says.

It was only natural for D'Asaro's charitable hunger to make its way onto Harvard's campus. She has already initiated the process of creating a record-breaking group, one that she hopes will set 38 new world records.

"I want my life to mean something," D'Asaro tells the Crimson. "When I die, I want [the world] to be a better place because I was in it. Each day is an opportunity to do that."

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