Baldwin Middle School Students Raise $13K For Make-A-Wish

BALDWIN, NY — Baldwin Middle School students are trying to make a wish come true this spring, as the middle school’s National Junior Honors Society spearheads a charity donation drive that has already raised over $13,000 with a view toward raising over $20,000.

The charity drive all came about after an August email between Make-A-Wish and Dr. Erica Taylor, the middle school’s principal. For Taylor, working with Make-A-Wish presented an opportunity to think locally when teaching Baldwin students about how they can make a difference in the world. Early in the school year, however, the drive to support Make-A-Wish got a little closer to home.

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“It was a strong pull to work with Make-A-Wish for me, not knowing that — that same year, at the beginning of the school year — we would have a student of our own diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. So it made the relationship, the pull, or the ‘why’ come to the forefront for us,” Taylor told Patch.

On Make-A-Wish’s side of things, emails like the one that got sent to Taylor are part of annual outreach to schools across the island.

“We had done outreach to all of the schools on Long Island…and once I got talking to Dr. Taylor and [National Junior Honors Society Advisor Laurie] Tricamo, we realized that there was a student who would be eligible for a wish, who was recently diagnosed with critical illness in the Baldwin Middle School,” Michelle Nardelli, of Make-A-Wish New York Metro, said. “Dr. Taylor was asking about the referral form, so I connected her to our medical engagement team and they then met with each other to help fill out the referral form, because the school nurse is an approved source to fill that out. And then, it just kind of blossomed…it all happened purely because Dr. Taylor and I were talking about one of their students, who was recently diagnosed.”

As the partnership between school and nonprofit “blossomed,” a crucial driving force joined in on the effort: Baldwin students, particularly members of the National Junior Honors Society.

“It took a lot of effort from everybody. We have meetings every Wednesday from 3:00 to 3:30, so we don't have that much time, but everybody had their hands on deck,” NJHS President Liya Little said. “We had groups making posters, and it turned out really nice, because [the posters] can go out to the community eventually.”

“Every National Junior Honors Society member created their own page on Make-A-Wish, and they collected donations from family members and people that want to help us out, help us reach our goal,” Vice President Joseph Tephly said. “And we've raised over $13,000, and we hope to raise $20,000 by the end of the school year…It feels really, really surreal. I never thought that I'd be able to be a part of one of these big fundraisers. And, how much $13,000 is, just makes me, like, wow. We did so much to help.”

The effort was noticed by Nardelli, who called working with students like these “the best part of [her] job.”

“It’s just so incredible. The best part of my job is being able to go to schools and work with students who are just so passionate about helping other students,” Nardelli said. “And, when the National Junior Honors Society had found out that there were other kids in Baldwin Middle School, who had either had a wish granted or were having a wish granted coming up, it just ignited them even more to be so passionate about it and so supportive. I tell Dr. Taylor and Laurie [Tricamo] all the time, I am so in awe of the way these students rallied together for kids just like them, to bring a little bit of hope and joy and strength to kids that are going through something really tough.”

At the administrative level, Tricamo, the faculty advisor to the National Junior Honors Society, said this fundraising effort was “inspiring” not only to her, but to the young people who benefit from Make-A-Wish’s efforts. The hope that having a wish granted brings kids, Tricamo said, is a powerful thing.

“[Make-A-Wish] have conducted studies that show that this hope can help those children through to the end, and to live a wonderful life beyond their sickness is just truly inspiring,” Tricamo said. “So, not only are we providing wishes for children, who can have their final wish, but we're also giving hope for that perseverance through these challenging times.”

Nardelli said the student in the Baldwin School District hasn’t had their wish granted yet. Depending on what kids wish for and what kind of condition they’re in, wishes can be granted anywhere from a couple of months after they’re sent in to a full year later. A student who wants to go to the Super Bowl, Nardelli said, will have to wait until February regardless of when their wish is made, while a student who wants to go on a shopping spree can go out and do that sooner.

For Little, one of the students at the heart of the fundraising work, the thousands of dollars raised have taught an important lesson about the power of collective action. The Baldwin fundraiser is still going on, and district officials said it’ll continue through the end of the school year.

“We can just keep going, if we have everybody helping…Any donation is possible,” Little told Patch. “It really helps, because that same person can reach out to others saying, ‘you can help as well,’ because everything counts and matters.”