Roosevelt Students Send Heartfelt Wishes to Young Cancer Patient

The students at have plenty of heart.

They proved it recently by organizing an outpouring of support for an 11-year-old boy recently diagnosed with leukemia.

It all started in early December.

Ron Adams, who teaches global events, asked his class to focus on some stories of virtue. He passed out some newspapers and told them to pick an article to discuss in class.

Lauren Hall, a senior, was inspired by a story about Joey Caretti of Washington Township. Joey had won the battle with a rare form of brain cancer on Nov. 11. But just weeks later, he was diagnosed with a second cancer–leukemia.

Now facing yet another battle with additional cancer treatments and the prospect of a bone marrow transplant, Joey was humble enough to simply ask for some get-well wishes. In response, thousands of cards have been sent from all over the U.S. and the world. 

Cards for Joey. What a great idea, Hall thought, and especially at Christmas.

A Goal and a Plan

That’s when Hall sprang into action. She put in a request at the school to have the student body view a video clip about Joey from Fox 2 News. She wanted the students to actually experience Joey’s story.

By Dec. 21, she was still waiting for her project idea to make it through the necessary approval process. Hall said that with every passing day she felt even more determined to take action.

As a member of the Key Club, Hall knew her school's community service group would help. Teacher Sheryl Brna also got involved on Lauren's behalf.  They contacted the principal’s office and got through the first hurdle. They called the board office in an effort to obtain supplies of markers and card stock. The board came through and it was a go.

The Key Club also enlisted the help of the Aktion Club, a service group comprised of special-needs students. As Hall worked behind the scenes organizing all the details, the group of student volunteers was able to staff two 8-foot tables during all lunches on Dec. 22-23.

“We set up a stand in the cafeteria so we would not disrupt the classes,” Hall said. “We were hoping to get some cards for Joey because that is what he wanted most.”

And cards they got.  The volunteers worked the booth while the video clip was set up to run continuously so the students having lunch could see Joey’s story.

“Kids were coming over to see what was going on and how they could help,” Hall said.

“They used the card stock and markers to make some very special get-well cards for Joey,” Brna said. “Some were extremely elaborate. The students also used inspirational quotes in their cards.”

By the time it was all said and done Hall and the other students had collected more than a few cards. The get-well wishes totaled 865 cards to be exact.

So many students had taken time out to make cards for Joey. It was an outpouring of support.

Cards for Christmas

The holiday spirit helped but Hall didn’t feel like her job was done. She wanted to get the cards to Joey before Christmas.  She spoke with Brna and the two decided a road trip was in order.

That Friday night they took the cards to the Pokas family of Macomb Township, who collected cards on Joey's behalf. They drove all the way to Macomb to make sure Joey would receive the cards on time.

“He did receive them on time and he was thrilled,” Brna said. "Our students were thrilled too."

Hall said she has learned several lessons through her project.

“This has taught me there are little things you can do to help someone who may not be as fortunate as you,” Hall said.

And Hall’s teachers applaud her efforts as well.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of our kids and the response we received,” Adams said. “This really makes me feel good about what our community represents.”

His colleague agrees.

“It was so heartwarming to see Lauren take on this beautiful project,” Brna said. "The goodwill for Joey went school-wide. The kids also learned they can empower themselves to accomplish great things.”

Brna said the students wanted to shower Joey with cards like the courtroom scene from Miracle on 34th Street and that is exactly what they did.

The families from Macomb County who were involved in collecting the cards for Joey were duly impressed by the get-well wishes from Wyandotte. They phoned Hall to let her know how much they appreciated her efforts:

Hundreds and hundreds of get well wishes sent to Joey–from the heart.