Local Fifth Grader `Pays It Forward' by Honoring Terminally Ill Aunt Through School Project

Wednesday April 27, 10:09 am ET

- St. George School Student Joins Fight Against Cancer by Handcrafting and Selling `Bracelets for Aunt Donna' With Proceeds Benefiting the Cancer Center at Frankford Hospital

PHILADELPHIA, April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Mr. Michael Garvin recently gave his fifth grade class at St. George School in Port Richmond an important assignment after having them view the movie "Pay It Forward." Just as a young boy in the movie responds to a social studies assignment with a plan to unselfishly help three strangers, the students were asked to develop a project that would positively change something in the world.
The average fifth grader may have thought this a daunting task, but not 10-year-old Courtney Wingate from Juniata. She immediately knew that whatever project she chose, it would be dedicated to her Aunt Donna. The mother of seven and grandmother of 15, Donna, 49, was diagnosed in 2002 with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and is terminally ill.

Now receiving hospice services at home and in the loving care of her family, Donna holds a special place in niece Courtney's heart. "I love my Aunt Donna and it has been really hard watching her be sick," explained Courtney. "I wanted to pick a project that would help her and people with cancer."

After a bit of brainstorming, Courtney decided to handcraft and sell bracelets fashioned from both clear and red beads to benefit cancer treatment and research. "I picked red because it is my Aunt Donna's favorite color," says Courtney. "I gave her the first one I made and she liked it so much she started to cry and told me that she loved me."

The project, dubbed "Bracelets for Aunt Donna," has proven therapeutic for Courtney, her parents, sisters, cousins and other family members as they have gathered on many occasions over the past few weeks to create the bracelets. "This project has brought us together and given us all a chance to remember the role that Donna has played in all of our lives," says Paula Wingate, Courtney's mother and Donna's sister-in-law. "She has been a true fighter through her illness."

Working with representatives from the Cancer Center at Frankford Hospital where her aunt received treatment, Courtney will soon be selling both bracelets and coordinating pins, all priced at $1 each, at the Center's upcoming fundraising events. She and her family have asked that all proceeds from the sale benefit the Center. "We hope that the money we raise can help other people with cancer," says Courtney.

Courtney has already been successful in raising more that $100 for the Cancer Center at Frankford Hospital through sales to classmates, family and friends. Proceeds will help to assist the Center in providing a range of educational and support services to patients dealing with cancer as well as their family members.

"I am proud of Courtney and what she has done with this project," said Mr. Garvin. "She is a model student and I think that she is going to learn a lot from this project. I am proud of her efforts."

Courtney is scheduled to sell her bracelets at the Cancer Center at Frankford Hospital, Frankford Hospital - Torresdale, Knights and Red Lion Roads, on Friday, May 13, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on how you can purchase "Bracelets for Aunt Donna" or a schedule of additional sale dates, please call the Cancer Center at Frankford Hospital at 215-612-5208 or 215-612-4880.

Formed in 1992, the Cancer Center at Frankford Hospital provides a comprehensive range of high-quality patient care and support services. Board- certified surgeons and surgical oncologists, medical oncologists and radiation oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, pain management specialists, certified cancer nurses and social workers team to treat both the physical and emotional sides of cancer in a comfortable setting. Patients are also offered a broad range of educational and support services. In addition, the Center, located at Frankford Hospital - Torresdale, participates in dozens of national clinical cancer research studies through membership in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG), the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), and the Jefferson Oncology Research Group. Oncology services are also available at Frankford Hospital - Frankford and Frankford Hospital - Bucks County.