Making a
wish come true
Karen Lloyd
Local News - Thursday, February 22, 2007
Updated @ 9:09:25 AM
North Hope Public School student
Joshua Vinge, 8, left, sits with Kent Birks, 8, in
the school library yesterday. Kent, who is holding
Nobody the Rotary doll, has organized a birthday
card drive for an eight-year-old Quebec boy with
leukemia, who wants to get in the Guinness Book of
World Records for having received the most
birthday cards.
Photo:
Ted Amsden | From
North Hope Central School to the Children's Hospital of
Eastern Ontario: Happy Birthday, Shane.
At the
age of four, Shane Bernier was diagnosed as having Acute
Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
While the Lancaster,
Ontario, boy did go into remission, he suffered a
relapse in July 2006. On May 30, he'll turn eight years
old.
Currently undergoing a course of
chemotherapy at CHEO until the end of June 2007, Shane
has one wish, and that is to make it into The Guinness
Book of World Records for having received the most
birthday cards.
When Kent Birks of Port Hope
caught wind of this, he felt compelled to help.
"I really wanted to help him get his wish," the
eight-year-old explained.
Through his school's
unique character development program, Who Is Nobody,
Kent has been able to do just that.
The program,
sponsored by the Rotary Club of Canada, encourages
children to work on initiatives that show service before
self.
They use their talents to do something for
a living thing - person/people, animal or environment -
and then write, draw or tell about it.
When
they're project has been completed, they pin a memento
of what they've done on a doll who symbolizes nobody.
The school's Grade 3 teacher, Julie Gilbert, who
enabled to project to happen, explained the doll, is
essentially a nobody.
"It has no gender, no
character, and through this project, the students are
building character," she said.
"They're helping
nobody, become a somebody."
Other students in
her class organized a Christmas gift drive for children
in need, they raised awareness about AIDS in Africa, and
helped to collect food for the local food bank.
Kent wants to make a wish come true for a young
man his own age.
"The Who Is Nobody program in
itself is pretty amazing," said Ms. Gilbert . "But then
seeing the impact it's having on the kids in my
classroom is nothing short of a miracle."
The
program has not only taught Kent how to organize and
launch such an initiative, but it's also given him a
sense of pride knowing that his actions he can, in fact,
make a difference in somebody's life.
"I learned
that something as simple as a birthday card can make
someone really happy," he said. "After his birthday, I'm
going to check in The Guinness Book of World Records to
see if he made it in."
Shane is currently
receiving up to 1,000 cards a day from individuals all
over the world. In order for his wish to come true, he
needs about one million birthday cards.
By
hanging posters throughout his school as well as at
various local stores, along with small business cards
with Shane's address, Kent is determined to help Shane
reach his goal.
Every student who makes a
birthday card for Shane will receive two ribbons - one
that says, "Happy Birthday," and an orange one that Kent
explains is the colour of leukemia.
klloyd@northumberlandtoday.com
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