Friday, January 29, 2010

Westland Elementary School

A couple of weeks ago we found out that Jack's Make-A-Wish was being sponsored by a local elementary school. They had seen a picture of Jack, knew a little bit about him, and learned his favorite things. For weeks the school raised money, based only on the flyer posted around the school. The administration asked if we could come to an assembly where they could present the check, and the kids could all meet Jack.

I was asked to speak a little bit about Jack's story. I did my best to summarize our eternity that has occurred over the past 4 and a half years, and make it so elementary school students would stay interested. Jack just had to be there. When he walked through the doors it was though royalty had entered Westland. The student council shook his hands and gave him hugs, and on our way to the Gym all the kids in line would give him "five" and tell him hello. Everyone was crowding around him, asking him questions about Lightning McQueen, and Disneyworld.

Jack was LOVING IT. He would just look into all the eyes of these strangers and smile. It was as though he truly felt gratitude in his heart. (We were particularly proud because he'd had problems with being nice to strangers lately...) He even volunteered to show off his scars, and was very proud of them.

After I spoke, we showed a slideshow of picture from Jack's birth to today, including some of the serious shots of him right after surgery, and the kids' response was so genuine and heartfelt, you could feel it in the whole room.


As a whole they collected over $1500 to help send our family to Disneyworld. It was so humbling to think of all these kids that were so happy that they were a part of this. It really makes you think about how special little kids are, and how they can be examples to us. There were a few children that brought gifts for Jack, out of the goodness of their hearts; they bought him CARS toys, Oreo's, Mater trucks, coloring books.... it was incredible. I'm so glad we captured all of these videos, (thanks to Nat for the FLIP and Mom for the filming..) because later on in life he'll be able to see how special he was to all these little kids at Westland Elementary school.

We hope that after we go on our trip, we can return to Westland to share with them the fun that we had, BECAUSE of them- and keep them updated on Jack's condition. I'm currently working on gifts for all 616 students....

8 comments:

Paul and Deborah Speed said...

I love it! That's so awesome. The make-a-wish foundation is amazing, and everyone involved too! Jack is a super star! :)

Kell's Belles said...

I think Jack has a way of bringing out the best in people :)

Allison said...

This made me cry. I can't even get the video to load and I was still in tears. What a sweet way for the community to be involved. I hope Jack recognizes the love behind his wish one day! I can't wait to hear about your trip when you return!

kimberlee shaffer said...

wow that is SO sweet!! Especially the little kids giving gifts to Jack, just because! I hope you guys have a blast, and say hi to the Mayor Easter Bunny for me (=

the lockes said...

We are so sad we missed it. What an awesome experience for the Trent family...certainly deserved. We love you and can't wait to hear all about Disneyland.

leandparkermakes3 said...

Little kids are the best. We can all learn a lesson from them. We are so excited for you guys to go on your trip and thankful for those sweet elementary students for helping to send you to Disney!

Anonymous said...

How cool. Thanks for sharing that. Even though the journey can be gut-wrenching, it also contains beauty we would never have seen otherwise. Really picked me up.

Glad to see Jack doing so well.

Rolf

Ilene said...

Laura was telling me about you guys and this experience. Have fun at Disneyworld!

I'm glad to see that Jack has learned to use his scar to his advantage when it comes to impressing the ladies.