Successful Shopping Sprees

The kids started coming in around 1:30, edging up to the three tables we’d set up by the Target entrance to find their last name and be checked in. When we handed them the cards, they either took them shyly and smiled or grinned hugely and raced off to begin their purchasing.

It was a very successful endeavor. All together, we gave away $3000 in Target gift cards to about 60 Taylor students who had been affected by the floods of 2008.

We received several thank-you cards; one read simply “Thank you for taking us to store. Love Ron.” We took photos with most of the kids. The Gazette, CBS, and KCRG all showed up to cover the story and follow the kids around, and they left satisfied. So did the kids. We caught them as they left the store with their purchases- one girl bought a wet-to-straight hair straightener, another boy an enormous nurf gun, and more toys, books, and games.

And, for a few families, the day was even better: we ended up with a couple extra gift cards, so they were raffled off. Upon being given the extra card, one father said “All right, how about we take this stuff, go home, eat dinner, and come back?” His two girls grinned.

THANK YOU SO MUCH to the Wheeler family, everyone who came to support us, Target, the Gazette, CBS, KCRG, and the community. Check out our photos and see! You really made a difference.

Wishes come true for Cedar Rapids kids from Taylor

Written by Adam Belz, published in the Cedar Rapids Gazette on 1/4/10

CEDAR RAPIDS — Caitlyn Hicks got to buy herself some late Christmas presents on Sunday thanks to the Taylor 3 Wish Club.

“I got a jacket, a Webkinz, and some bracelets, and some cards,” Caitlyn, 10, said.

Her brother Quinton, 12, picked out a book and an Xbox game.

A club started by Washington High School students has made it a priority to try to brighten the lives of students who attend Taylor Elementary School, hit hard by the flood of 2008.

Quinton and Caitlyn were two of 55 Taylor kids who received a $50 Target gift card from the 3 Wish Club. They got to buy whatever they wanted Sunday afternoon at the Target on Blairs Ferry Road NE.

“They were just delighted, and it was really awesome to see,” Hannah Wheeler, 17, president of the Taylor 3 Wish Club, said. “It was my last day of break. It was the best way I ever could have spent it.”

The last 18 months have been hard for the children who go to Taylor School, and the Hicks kids have been no exception. Their home near the Police Station was flooded in June 2008, and their school was closed for the 2008-09 school year.

At least one of the families shopping Sunday hadn’t been able to celebrate Christmas this year, and the gift card provided the only presents the kids received.

Wheeler and Kestrel Henry, 17, started the 3 Wish Club in 2008 after the flood and before Taylor School reopened. They thought the school’s closure would be particularly hard on the students, and asked each child who attended the school for at least half the previous school year to tell them three wishes: one big, one medium and one small.

The club since has granted about 60 wishes, and used leftover money to buy the gift cards for Sunday. The donations came from local businesses and individuals, teachers and students at Washington. A few donations came from as far away as California.

Sunday’s spree probably was the last thing the club will do. Wheeler and Henry plan to give what money is left to Taylor for school supplies or something else.

“To see the kids’ faces light up, it’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen,” Wheeler said. “That’s what the club is all about. That makes it all worth it.”

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