Images of the devastation in Haiti have touched people around the globe, spurring them to act in ways large and small.

Brimwin Peabody is no different.

On Saturday night, the Scarborough 7-year old saw the news coverage about the victims of the earthquake, and wanted to help.

So the Pleasant Hill Primary School first-grader set about raising money for the relief effort, ultimately collecting $120.75 for the Red Cross at a swim meet in Westbrook over the weekend, according to his mother, Carrie Peabody.

“This was totally his idea,” she said in an e-mail. “It was not a fundraising event – just a regular swim meet, and he decided to do this.”

She said Brimwin was moved to do something to help the Haitians after watching the news.

“At first he wanted to make a sign and stand at the end of our road, then he wanted to make and sell stuff,” his mother said. “Both great ideas for warmer months.”

Not wanting to give up, his mom said, Brimwin asked how he could get out in front of people. “Then,” she said, “the light bulb went off!”

Brimwin is on a swim team called Coastal Maine Aquatics, which is based in Cape Elizabeth.

His mother said that this past weekend, the Westbrook Seals were hosting a two-day swim meet in Westbrook called “swim your own age.”

Brimwin swims in the 7-year-old group. After swimming on Saturday, he returned home and made a sign and decorated a collection box, his mother said. The next morning, he asked the check-in desk if he could set the sign and box by the admissions desk.

After swimming in the first session, he went to pick up the box on the way out. However, the swim director said that swimmers in the second session were waiting to come in, and that Brimwin could stand in the hallway and collect money as they walked by.

When Brimwin was done, he thanked the swim director of the Westbrook Seals, his mother said. The Westbrook Seals were pleased to help and gave him a donation as well, she said.

Brimwin Peabody, 7, of Scarborough, raised $120 for Haitian relief during a swim meet in Westbrook over the weekend. (Courtesy photo)