|
|
| | 
|  |
| |  | | 
| | | Photo by Alan Pearlman (click for larger version) | |
July 15, 2009 | 02:23 PM
The Centerport Yacht Club members opened their collective hearts on July 10 to a 6-year-old who dreamed of visiting Disney World with her family in October.
According to Chairwoman Joanne Morency, 84 CYC swim team members took part in the club's 14th annual Make-A-Wish Swim-A-Thon. The swimmers, who ranged in age from 5 to 17, swam laps to raise the $6,500 needed to grant the wish of Heaven, a Shirley girl suffering from a brain malformation.
By the conclusion of the morning and evening swims, the participants — many of whom set personal goals to maximize pledges — clocked 4,265 laps.
The event, which included raffles of items generously donated by the membership and local merchants, raised more than $14,000, enough to grant a second wish, Morency indicated.
"This is the time when ordinary people can do extraordinary things," Morency said of the tireless team who put the event together and the more-than-200 members, young and old, who chipped in despite today's flagging economy.
New this year was a competitive swim between teams of lifeguards, coaches and swim lesson instructors.
Among the many young participants were three girls whose compassion inspired them to swim long and hard.
Twins Sierra and Jade Weiner, 13, of Centerport, said that thoughts of the challenges that Heaven faces spurred them on to great things. "We wanted to do something for her that she can't do," Nicolette Gibbons said of the inspiration that kept her and her friends swimming: "We just kept going."
Bonnie Ewing, a CYC member who cofounded Make-A-Wish Foundation's Suffolk branch with Laura Kelley in 1983, was the honored guest speaker. Ewing beamed as she thanked the crowd for their support, adding that she was stunned to see how the event has grown over the years.
Ewing, a registered nurse who teaches community health nursing at Adelphi University, has witnessed firsthand how meaningful wish fulfillment is to both recipients and grantors. "It touches the heart and souls of everyone," Ewing said, indicating that these healing experiences and the joy, creativity and a sense of play which they engender, help restore balance to the lives of sick children.
"We are all part of the wish," Ewing said of the link that forms between the child and the community at large.
Since its inception in 1983, the Suffolk chapter has granted over 1,800 wishes. To sponsor an event or learn how to help, visit http://www.makeawish-suffolkny.org/
| |
|
|
|
| |
Copyright 2010
(631) 751-7744 | news@tbrnewspapers.com | www.northshoreoflongisland.com | About |
|
| |
|
