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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Shopping Sprees Announced!

With the holiday season of 2009 here, the Taylor 3 Wish Club is using all of its surplus funds after the wish grantings to take 50 of the wish kids on a shopping spree at the Blairsferry Road Target. The children will arrive with their parents/guardians at 2pm on January 3rd, be checked in by the Taylor 3 Wish Club and given a $50 gift card to use throughout the store.

We are very, very excited about this opportunity to finish the club and give some of the kids a holiday gift. Money left over after the shopping sprees will go to Taylor Elementary.

We’re so glad to have had the opportunity to grant so many wishes, all this year and last year. Happy holidays from the Taylor 3 Wish Club!

Taylor School Reopens

Brian Christoffersen doesn’t have to describe how Taylor Elementary School families feel about the new school year.

He sees it.

“It’s more than what they say — it’s how they act, what they feel,” said Christoffersen, Taylor’s principal. “They’re excited.”

Taylor opens its doors for the 2009-10 school year today after last June’s flood forced the school to close for 2008-09. The Taylor community has held tight to the knowledge that the school would reopen.

“The neighborhood association is called the Taylor Neighborhood Association,” Christoffersen said. “The school has always been the center of the neighborhood.”

And with the center back, the possibilities are endless. Parent Interventionist J Knight said he saw such opportunity after the floodwaters receded.

“Out of all the tragedy and all the bad things that happened, I saw the possibility for what we could accomplish when everyone comes together,” he said. “During the last year, we were able to plan, think innovatively about what we could do.”

Those plans have resulted in an improved fitness trail around the school and butterfly garden. Taylor will soon have a greenhouse and rain garden.

Taylor also partnered with the Boys and Girls Club to expand its before and after school program. The Tiger Club, pre-flood, could serve only 50 students. Christoffersen said there always was a waiting list.

The new Boys and Girls Club Tiger Club Unit will serve 100 students and includes an expanded enrichment program.

More than 200 students in kindergarten through fifth grade will attend Taylor this year.

The school also has two preschool classrooms, each with a 20-student capacity.

The preschool program already has a waiting list and enrollment is expected to increase as more paperwork is filed.

School staff aren’t surprised by the numbers.

“Students and families are returning to a place where they are comfortable,” said Peggy Linden, Taylor’s family support worker. “We serve generations of families.”

Taylor students attended elementary schools throughout the district last year. Christoffersen said the year away progressed as well as could be expected.

“Kids are resilient,” Christoffersen said. “They went to new schools last year. They made new friends, they did their best, but there’s something about going home — sleeping in your own bed and going to your school.”

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Updates

We’d like to thank everyone who has supported us thus far– it’s been a great experience. Keep it up! The other day we drove out to a trailer park to give the cutest little girl packages from her sponsor. She had the biggest smile. We also visited a family of two little girls and a boy who ran straight out of their baths to greet us, squealing at the Wii in our hands. Upon thanking the boy for a compliment, he grinned and said “No, thank YOU.”

Children and Mother Reunited

Last week, the Taylor 3 Wish Club achieved its biggest wish-granting yet; the reuniting of four children - Mishan, Devante, Jaylnn, and Taylor - with their mother, who lives in Wisconsin with their step siblings, who they had not been able to see recently because of financial difficulties. Working with social services and the childrens’ sponsor, Internet Marketing Group, the club was able to arrange for transportation and a two day stay for the mother at the Marriott hotel in Cedar Rapids, where she was joined by her children and the 3 wish club for a visit. The kids showed us their new Christmas presents from their mom and were excited to swim in the hotel’s pool. It was a great and rewarding experience, and awesome to see the kids’ happiness at seeing their mother and know that we made it happen.

Taylor-Made Wishes

F AIRFAX, Nov 14, 2008 — If Care Bears could fight, there would have been some purple and pink stuffed animal fur flying in the Moeller household last night.

Nine-year-old Alicia, the daughter of Dee Moeller, collects the stuffed animals.

She stacks a group of them at the foot of her bed. Every night, one lucky bear gets to sleep at the head of the bed with her.

On Thursday, Alicia was given three more Care Bears to add to her collection of 64. She was not sure which of the two larger bears she would curl up with later.

The gifts to Alicia and her siblings were the first wishes granted by the Washington-Taylor Three Wish Club, run by Cedar Rapids Washington High School students. They were delivered by Hannah Wheeler, Spencer Micka and Kestrel Henry, all 16.

The Washington students hope to bring joy into the lives of the roughly 250 students who used to attend Taylor Elementary School.

It flooded and did not open this year.

The older students have asked the children to submit small, medium and large wishes. They want to grant at least one wish per child with the community’s help.

Alicia’s sister, Maddison, 11, received a pair of Heelys — shoes that roll. Her brother, Lance, 6, was given a Ben 10 Alien Creation Chamber.

A what?

Lance explained: “These aliens, you put them in there and they light up and you can see ‘em.” He’ll return to Taylor next year.

The Moeller children had open-enrolled into the Cedar Rapids school district.

Maddison attends Prairie Middle School this year, and the two younger children attend Harrison Elementary.

The club is the brainchild of Wheeler and her dad, Ben Wheeler. Five students consistently attend its meetings. Nearly 200 children have submitted applications with wishes, said Henry, the club’s treasurer.

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A New Way to Help- Sponsor a Child!

The Taylor 3 Wish Club is now giving generous individuals the opportunity to sponsor a Taylor child. Whether in the holiday spirit as their own personal ‘Santa’ or simply as a generous patron, individuals can now sign up to grant one to all of a child’s wishes. Simply click ’sponsor a child’ in the navbar to fill out the form and we will contact you in order to pair you up with a child. The sponsor will also be given the opportunity to be present at the wish granting, and a donor listing on our website. We’re excited to have begun this wonderful way to get involved in our project!

First wishes granted!

The Taylor 3 Wish Club is ecstatic to announce that as of yesterday, the first wishes have officially been granted to a family of three siblings- Maddie, Alicia, and Lance. The gifts were presented to the children today at their residence in Fairfax, Iowa, as a surprise. We were able to hang out with them for a while and chat with their parents and the media who graciously covered the event, and the kids were extremely nice and upbeat. It was awesome to see them ripping the gift boxes open or showing us their collections. There’s still a long way to go, but it was a really heartening event and a great start- thanks so much to everyone who’s made it happen so far.

See pictures

First Donations Coming In

Thanks to the following for taking the initiative and being the first to donate or give items. Taylor greatly appreciates the contributions.

Internet Marketing Group
Dorothy Nowotny
David Plantan
Len Struttman
Amy Wheeler
Weston Lahr
Heidi Galer
Jerry Kollman
Cam Smith
Anonymous (3)

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