CT students want to break a world record. It won’t be easy, and they need a lot of help.

Who doesn’t love a conga-line?

It’s apparently true at Greenwich High School, where students last summer held a conga-line around the school’s track for 16.5 miles in the span of nearly eight hours, all in the name of helping others.

The 10 students did it to raise $10,700 to donate to River House Adult Day Center – a Norwalk senior and assisted living facility.

The 2023 event was headed by current GHS senior Omar Galal, and junior Zerach Zoum, who goes by the name Rocky.

Zou, 17, has taken charge and started planning his next event,  Conga4All, a student-led nonprofit raising money for charity by breaking conga-line related world records. Last year’s event was not made official by Guinness.

“Omar initially came up with the idea for walking the longest distance conga-line,” Zou said. “We wanted something crazy to get attention instead of something like a lemonade stand. I want to turn this into a recurring thing.”

Zou now is asking for students from all over the state to come to Greenwich in July to break the Guinness world record for the most nationalities in a conga line. Zou said the goal is to get more than 50 nationalities represented in the Conga4Diversity.

“Last year, at first it was pretty dreadful,” Zou said. “Walking up at 5 a.m. and doing that all day. It was probably not what I wanted to do on a Saturday morning. Then it was a bonding experience. We did a conga-line for eight hours and we all ended up getting really close.”

This year it will be held on July 6 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the 8th Annual Norwalk International Cultural Exchange Festival held at Oyster Shell Park in Norwalk. Admission is free. The festival celebrates “global heritage & diversity with music, food, art and cultural performances.”

“It’s a nice festival that brings in more than 6,000 people a year and we are hoping to get a lot of donations and sponsorships,” Zou said.

Conga4All is looking to raise money for Norwalk non-profits Creative Connections and NICE.

Last year’s event included almost exclusively Greenwich High students. This year he’s hoping to reach more students in Fairfield County and throughout the state.

“I’ve contacted different culture clubs including a South Asian Heritage club, a French club and others to share,” Zou said. “We already have two sponsors, and we are hoping for a few more.”

Zou said he plans to pursue a career in marketing. He’s interested in learning about his own culture and learning the Chinese language.

“I feel it’s good to embrace our roots and where we come from,” Zou said.

Zou said anyone who wants to participate, sponsor or donate can email him at zzou@conga4all.org or visit the event website at conga4all.org.

“We are looking for everyone to get involved and join,” Zou said.

Janet Evelyn, the founder and executive director at NICE, said the nonprofit organization has a goal to promote and increase awareness of the diversity of people from around the world through arts and culture.

“We started it in 2016 to bring unity and increased awareness of the fact that our communities are melting pots,” Evelyn said. “We are a nation of diverse individuals. We are built on people that came around the world with different traditions and customs through music and dance.”

The event, which is run by a group of community volunteers and advocates, showcases musical acts on two stages.

“Some families don’t have the capacity to go to Spain but can experience a flamenco guitarist or a flamenco dancer or an Argentina gaucho dance or a Peruvian Marinera. Those are the type of performances we bring,” Evelyn said.

Among the performances this year will be: a gospel performance, jazz pianist, Aztec dancers, Brazilian Samba and Capoeira, reggae and salsa bands, a Chinese dragon dance to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, a Thailand dance, Korean drummers and more.

There will also be 20 food trucks on site and discounted parking at the South Norwalk Railroad Station Garage.

Evelyn said she was happy when she was approached by Zou and Conga4All.

“We thought it was a good idea to work with the Greenwich students,” Evelyn said. “We were the ideal group to do it. I don’t know if you are going to find another event or program where you are going to have as many groups and nationalities represented. This is the perfect environment and space to touch as many nationalities as possible.”