Northside students raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation
DECATUR — A pie in the face was the fate of Cary Stamps, Decatur Northside Elementary School principal, on April 16 when he appeared before an assembly in the school’s cafeteria. The pie was delivered by several of the school’s teaching staff.
The assembly was the result of a week-long coin drive which began April 9 to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to children with critical illnesses.
The event at Northside raised $1,300 for the charity. A check was presented to Esther Schroeder, development manager for Make-A-Wish Mid-South, by Lauryn Taylor, Esme Gibson and Logan Smith, students at Northside, April 20, at the school.
“Make-A-Wish grants the wishes of children with critical conditions. Doctors diagnose one child every 20 minutes with a critical illness. Recent studies have shown that wishes provide long-term impact through increased emotional and physical health, making children more likely to overcome their conditions. Each year, Make-A-Wish Mid-South grants wishes for more than 275 children locally. The average cost of a wish is more than $8,000, and Make-A-Wish relies solely on fundraisers, corporate support and donations from the public to transform lives, one wish at a time,” according to midsouth.wish.org.
In 2017, the foundation made more than 15,000 dreams come true (one every 34 minutes), including a dream visit to Disney World in Florida for a Decatur resident, 3-year-old Remington Anderson, who lost his battle with a rare form of brain cancer on Aug. 29, 2017.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation will sponsor a Walk For Wishes on Saturday, May 5, at Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. The event will raise money to grant wishes for children with critical illnesses. For more information on this event or the MakeA-Wish Foundation, go to midsouth.wish.org.