Family organizes Star Wars fundraiser
Screening raises $3K in donations for Wish charities
Addison Kenneth enthusiastically tapped his feet and rocked in his wheelchair Friday while surrounded by stormtroopers, Jawas and all his favourite Star Wars characters at a special screening of The Last Jedi.
Without the ability to speak, it was his way of expressing excitement about the Jedi Addison Dreams & Wishes Star Wars fundraiser his dad organized to help the wishes of sick kids come true.
A total of 200 people attended the event at the Scotiabank Theatre in West Edmonton Mall to support the special guest, who suffers from mitochondrial disease and epilepsy.
“Addison has a really big impact on myself and those around the school,” said Scott Desaints, his special education teacher at St. Francis Xavier High School. “He’s a really fun-loving young man. He is always excited to see people and he brings a vibrancy in the hallways whenever he comes around.”
The community raised $3,000 from donations, the proceeds of which will go to Children’s Wish Foundation and the Make-A-Wish Northern Alberta Foundation. Both organizations have granted the 18-year-old wishes in the last decade.
“For us the power of the wish has been so immense,” said Sheldon Kenneth, Addison’s father. “It’s a life-changing experience. This wish might be the only thing that (the kids) ever do in their life.”
Attending a Star Wars weekend at Walt Disney World in Florida was his son’s first wish 10 years ago with Make-A-Wish. It has been the only place outside of Edmonton that Addison Kenneth ever travelled.
Mitochondrial disease causes disabilities due to a dysfunction in the parts of the cell responsible for producing people’s energy. His dad described his disease like “a light switch where the body just goes on and off until you just collapse.”
Friends and family were in attendance at the event. Addison Kenneth’s best friend Emma Huyser-Wierenga, 18, said that his favourite pastime is exploring the city in the family van and taking pictures of his BB-8 Star Wars character in different locations.
“He’s pretty goofy, I light up so much around him,” she said.
His van is wrapped as the Millennium Falcon, with Han Solo and Chewbacca steering in the rear window, a desire that Children’s Wish helped realize.