Student's Fund to aid 2nd grader with brain surgery

The Student's Fund of Hope will be helping a Hope Elementary 2nd grader facing brain surgery and residents of Miller's Merry Manor with an event Friday at Hauser Jr./Sr. High School.

The Soups of Santa event will start at 4 p.m. Friday at Hauser's auditorium. All of the activities are free but donations will be accepted to help the cause, says organizer Whitney Budd.

Azlyn Whittington, the daughter of Brett Whittington and Ramber Rice, is scheduled for the brain surgery next week. She was born with a chiari malformation, a syndrome where the brain is putting pressure on the spinal cord, blocking the flow of spinal fluid. The disorder was discovered by accident after she received a scan for a broken arm earlier this fall.

Although originally scheduled for this week, the surgery has been postponed because Azlyn has been ill.

Editor's Note: Azlyn's father, Rhett, occasionally works with HSJ Online as a graphic artist.

Budd said Friday's event will feature a soup dinner, along with professional photos taken with Santa. She said prints of the photos will be provided free of charge because many families cannot afford professional photography.

There will also be a letter writing table for Santa, gingerbread decorating, readings of "A Night Before Christmas" and a drive to help some of the residents at the nursing home.

Budd said that some Miller's residents have no families or are in financial need and have asked for assistance through the Hope Elementary Angel Tree. She said the goal is to provide those residents with the small items they need. She is encouraging parents to take their children to the store to fill a shoe box for the residents.

Items requested include fleece blankets, slipper socks, small stuffed animals and personal care items such as small bottles of shampoo and body wash.

Friday night's event will include a table where the packages for the seniors can be wrapped and a note can be written to the residents.

As always, all of the activities are free but donations are sought to help the Whittington family with Christmas and to cover the costs while Rice is out of work.

The Student's Fund of Hope was created this fall as a way to aid students and their families who have problems paying their school lunch fees. It has expanded to include school supplies and assistance for emergencies such as the victims as serious car wreck in front of the school this fall.

So far, the fund has held a root beer float event and a movie night, both on the Hope Town Square. The root beer float event raised more than $8,000 and settled all of the lunch accounts in small claims court. The movie night provided enough money to build a ramp so accident victim, Erin Newcomb, can get in and out of her home.