Friday, November 22, our school held a dress down day to benefit the Samantha Hickey Foundation. This foundation is in honor of Samantha, a young girl who died at only three years old in 2002 as a result of blood related Cancer. In her memory, her parents and family started the Samantha Hickey Foundation, a charitable organization that raises money for similar causes.

The organization raises money for causes such as Make-a-Wish, gifts and gift cards for kids and families of Memorial Pediatric Oncology Unit in South Bend, Adopting families in need at Christmas from the Pediatric Oncology Unit at Memorial, Gifts for the kids each time they have a treatment at Memorial, and helping families in treatment by giving them gift cards for groceries, gas, and restaurants. 

This is very important because families dealing with a sick child places a very big weight on the family financially, emotionally, and even physically, as these families sacrifice parts of their lives to help their child as much as possible. The Samantha Hickey foundation’s goal is to  to improve the quality of life for children suffering life-threatening diseases and their families in the South Bend, Indiana area. The foundation tries to help with the struggles of having a child be sick with cancer, and help the families get through it as much as possible.

The foundation has opened the Samantha Hickey playhouse and Adult Resource rooms at Memorial Hospital in South Bend as places to let the families and children go while receiving treatment and give them a place to stimulate their brains and encourage them to move around.

The Samantha Hickey Foundation is a very good charity and a very good resource for our community, and all the money raised from Saint Joe students is greatly appreciated.

Have a great day Saint Joe!