Girls work to give pediatric patients a brighter day
Four fourth-grade girls from St. Raymond School, 300 S. Elmhurst Road, recently raised funds to help the patients at the Midwest Children's Brain Tumor Center at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge.
It was not a school or Scout project. It was simply something they wanted to do.
Kristen Fedor, Kaylee Bartz, Alyssa Duetsch and Kelly Prete raised more than $1,000 by selling lemonade and popcorn; contributing their allowances; doing manicures and pedicures for family and friends; requesting donations from those same family and friends; and convincing their principal to hold an "out-of-uniform" day where students pay $1 for the privilege of wearing jeans to school.
The girls then asked the Brain Tumor Center for a wish list and went shopping for board games, coloring books, puzzles, DVDs and Wii games and accessories for the young patients, spending approximately $440 of the money they had raised. They gave the other $630 to the center in the form of checks.
"These were just four friends who decided to do this because of an older child they know at school who has been treated at the Brain Tumor Center," explained Susan Fedor, mother of one of the girls.
The big moment came on May 29 when the girls and Fedor visited the Center, bringing oodles of gifts and checks. Everyone made a big fuss over them, snapping photos and giving them a tour of the facility.
"It was so wonderful that a group of such young girls had this idea all on their own," said Emily Gotha, Child Life Specialist for the Brain Tumor Center. "I was just so impressed that at such a young age they already have such big and caring hearts."
Sister Cities earns award: Sister Cities International, based in Washington, D.C., will bestow an award on the Mount Prospect Sister Cities Commission at its annual conference in Kansas City next month. The Mount Prospect chapter will receive an innovation award based on the association of the Mount Prospect Historical Society's "Sew Bee It" Quilters and the "Patchworkers" group in their Sister City of Sevres, France, according to Rachel Toeppen, coordinators of the Sew Bee It quilters. Last October the two groups held a joint quilt exhibit in Sevres. The Mount Prospect quilters sent 13 quilts to the show.
"Singsational" Servants: The children and teens of Trinity United Methodist Church, 605 W. Golf Road, will present a musical titled "Singsational Servants" at 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday as part of the church's yearlong 50th anniversary celebration. The public is invited to watch preschoolers through high school students sing and dance their way through this musical about the joys of being a servant. Tickets are $7, but children under 12 are free. Call (847) 439-0950 or visit www.trinitymp.org.