Jada van Soolen Staff Writer Hold your breath, make a wish, count to three. Now count to a much higher number, such as 5,000. Why 5,000, you may ask? Because that’s the average amount of money it takes to grant an ill-stricken child their one wish or dream. Many children all around the world get sick one way or another, from the flu, the common cold, sometimes even chicken pox. But there are diseases and viruses that some children get that either can’t be cured or will take a very long time to cure, leukemia being one of them. These children who can see the hooded figure down the street or a light at the end of a tunnel are frightened and are in pain. But when there’s trouble for these children, there’s a fairy-godmother or godfather there to ensure them happiness in these hard times. There’s an organization here in the United States that acts as those wish givers: Make-A-Wish America. “It’s an absolutely noble cause that we were able to rally behind and to be able to reach our goal again this year. I am very grateful to the student body.” Make-A-Wish didn’t really begin right out of the blue. According to their website, everything started after a little boy in Arizona was diagnosed with leukemia in 1980. Chris Greicius was a lovable little boy with a big heart and a big dream. He wanted to become a police officer when he grew up. But the cancer became a humongous roadblock that couldn’t be crossed. This roadblock was seen by Greicius’ mother’s friend, U.S. Customs Agent Tommy Austin, who went to the police station to have a talk with the people working there. He tells them the boy’s story and convinces many people to help him get Greicius his wish. Austin took Greicius around in a helicopter, a motorcycle, and even got Greicius his own little police uniform, hat, and badge. It was just a day or two after Austin had done all these things for Greicius when he went to visit Greicius in the hospital and watch as he smiled, clutching his badge in his hands, before passing away surrounded by all of his presents from the police departments. The funeral was treated as if a fellow officer had died.This experience inspired Austin and a few others to create Make-A-Wish so that other kids around the nation can feel happiness and courage as they’re trying to win the fight within themselves.
Here in Cache Valley, there are kids just like Greicius dealing with cancer, a really bad injury, or even something they were born with that could cost them their lives. One of these is a 4-year-old boy named Mckoy Larson. He lives here in Logan and has cancer. His wish is to go to Legoland. This lego-loving boy is one of the reasons why Logan High chose to help raise money for Make-A-Wish. In the summer of 2015, Logan High was introduced to the idea of raising money for these kids. The school’s first attempt at raising $5,000 was a huge success. Students raised more than $8,000 for this cause. This year, the school tried to raise enough money to meet the average again, and the total was $6,209.99. That’s pretty amazing! Not all of the money will be going to Larson. Some will be going to the other kids in Cache Valley raising money for their wishes. Logan High Student Body President Alex Lambert said, “It’s an absolutely noble cause that we were able to rally behind and to be able to reach our goal again this year. I am very grateful to the student body.”
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December 2018
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