By Kasey Curtis – NSHS Correspondent
MT. PLEASANT—North Sanpete High School students and faculty raised $5,050 for a local 5-year-old boy who was part of the Make-A-Wish program.
Donations from the annual fundraiser went to a boy named Dax, who was born with a tumor on his pelvis.
It wasn’t until January of 2021 that he was diagnosed with cancer. In September, after several hospital experiences and months of cancer treatments, it was found that there were no more active cancer cells in Dax’s body.
The student body officers thought that the Make-A-Wish Foundation could provide more of a connected experience for the students and for the community.
The student council asked students to donate their loose change or any money they could spare to Dax. Buckets were also passed around during home sporting events.
Dax was able to attend one of the boys’ basketball games, and at halftime the student council brought him out to half court. After talking about him and the goal to raise money for his wish, the council collected just over $900, the most collected at any one time.
Casey Mitchell, the senior class president, said that at first when the decision was made not to do Sub-for-Santa, but to try Make-a-Wish, he was nervous on how it would go because it was so different, but he said he quickly learned that change can be good.
“Even though it was a success, I think that whether we had one kid or 20 kids, it wouldn’t have made a difference,” Mitchell said. “We were still able to give someone a special Christmas gift.”
The faculty and students at North Sanpete helped to make donating a little more fun by doing pledges. If they were able to raise certain amounts of money, fun activities were held.
On the Tuesday before Christmas, the school held an assembly where several of the pledges were completed. Dax was able to attend and was given a special extra gift.
“I expected Dax to have a big wish and high expectation,” said Mitchell. “He actually just wanted to be a normal kid for a while, and it was so fun to make a difference in his life and give him a place at the high school.”
Not only did the school make a difference in Dax’s life, but the students’ lives were also changed by seeing their work go to something so important.
