Warren High to host first DW Project fundraiser
The DW Project, a student-created charity formed to raise money for the Lurie Children's Pediatric Brain Tumor Program, will host its first fundraiser event Sept. 4 at Warren Township High School O'Plaine Stadium.
The committee was started to honor the life of Daniel Wang, a WTHS student who lost his life to brain cancer last spring. To show the Wang family how much his graduating class of 2016 loves and misses him, Haley Brock and Teagan Tennerman have started The DW Project to raise money for The Lurie Children's Pediatric Brain Tumor Program in Daniel's name.
The fundraiser will be a "gray out" football game in his honor as the Blue Devils battle the New Trier Trevians during the home opening game. The "gray out" football game is a night where all the fans will show up in gray while the football team will be playing in their gray uniforms. Gray is the color for brain cancer.
At this game, the Wang family will be the guest of honor, and there will be T-shirts for sale that were designed for The DW Project that will be sold at Warren Township High School for students and staff to purchase in the week leading to the game and donation bins for those who would like to donate to this cause.
As for the shirt sales, 80 percent of the proceeds will be donated to Lurie Children's Hospital Pediatric Brain Tumor Center.
Warren's Varsity Cheer and Dance team, the Devilettes, will wear the shirts during the game while on the sidelines.
"When I returned back to school after the death of my brother, I was scared that people would start to forget about him, that life would just keep going on without him. He loved this school and this community so much, and I just couldn't bear that thought," said Daphne Wang, Daniel's twin sister.
"But these past few weeks have made me realize that Daniel is far from forgotten. It has been sad, happy, painful, and heartwarming all at once to see the way that the people in this school have come together, sacrificing their time and pausing their lives to honor a cause and a memory.
"I have never been more proud to be a part of a school filled with such passion and care, and I know that there is no better place to honor my brother's memory than these hallways of blue, gold and gray."
The DW Project is about coming together as a school to remember the life of a boy loved by so many and giving back in any way possible in his honor.