Wishes Granted
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October 2008
Children’s
Memorial Hospital
Patients of all ages have enjoyed the movies, video
games and art supplies that were delivered to Children’s
Memorial Hospital!
(Inpatient Unit, Outpatient Clinic, Day Hospital,
Therapeutic Apheresis Center, Ambulatory Stem Cell
Unit) A little goes a long way in making a difference…
one child was amazed that she was presented with a pack
of crayons that contained 64 different color choices,
along with markers that were actually scented!
The video games and movies were an instant hit,
especially with our teen population!
The Wii games are a big motivator in drawing our
teens down to the activity room, where the interactions
become much more than just video game competition- it
becomes about socializing with another peer who can
truly say "I understand what you’re going through."
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October 2008 Financial
Assistance
Michelle, mother of Matthew who was diagnosed with ALL 6
months ago, is a single parent.
She wrote:
“I was quickly overwhelmed with the financial
impact his illness was having on our lives.
I was falling behind on several of my monthly
bills and didn’t know where to turn.
Cal’s Angels was the first organization to come
forward and offer us some financial assistance.
Thanks to you, I was able to make my mortgage
payment. You
truly are “Angels” to all of us.
Thank you so much for caring!”
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September 2008
Wish Connected
Amanda, age 14, loves the Laptop that Cal's All-Star
Angel Foundation helped to provide with a $750 Dell Gift
Card. It's
really a wonderful machine and she simply delights in
having it.
She uses it for every purpose it is intended - 7th grade
book reports, web research and "friend business", email
correspondence, photos and graphics, and of course,
Facebook, YouTube, internet games and DVD movies.
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August, 2008
Home Run Wish
Russell Witek of Geneva, IL received his
Cal’s Angels wish. He wanted to visit Wrigley Field for
a Cubs game. Russell, his parents Brian and Karen, his
brother and his youth pastor were able to be on the
field before the game where Russell was presented with a
signed Kerry Wood baseball.
They enjoyed the
game together from fantastic lower deck seats near third
base. Russell’s
mother said, “The day was complete with a grand slam
home run on the field. We high fived the many fans
around us.” What a great way to spend the day!
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Children’s
Memorial Hospital
While in remission after his battle with leukemia,
Russell developed a brain tumor and is now being treated
as an outpatient at Children’s Memorial Hospital in
Chicago. Before we were even able to grant his own
wish, he sent us an e-mail through his mom letting us
know that the Wii games they have in the playroom at the
hospital are pretty lame and that if we wanted to create
a memorable Wii experience for the kids on the Oncology
floor, there are six particular games to purchase,
including the new Mario Kart Wii game. We went
over to the local Best Buy store in South Elgin with his
e-mail and purchased all six plus rechargeable battery
controllers. The games and controllers were
delivered the next day making a lot of kids’ days much
brighter and saving the hospital a lot of money on
batteries. We also have an extra Wii System for
the hospital once they can reconfigure space for a
second system.
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July 2008
University of Minnesota Children’s
Hospital
Cal’s All-Star Angel Foundation made a
special delivery to the University of Minnesota
Children’s Hospital. Cal's favorite nurse, Rich, was on
duty when the Sutter family arrived with the items. It
was a special moment for them to see him again.
University of Minnesota Medical Center Children’s
Hospital where Cal was a patient for over 3 months in
2006, every room on the Pediatric Oncology and Stem Cell
Transplant floor have a Wii system but the outpatient
clinic does not. Apparently, the kids were asking
the social workers if they could be admitted as an
inpatient again so that they could play the Wii games.
The Foundation purchased a system and several games and
shipped them up to the clinic so that the kids do not
have to go without their Wii after they are released but
still have to go to the outpatient clinic every day.
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July 2008
Grandparents raising a child with
cancer
The Foundation has paid at a
portion of a family’s mortgage this past month. A
three year old fighting leukemia who has been legally
adopted by his grandparents along with his 1 year old
brother because mom and dad have been incarcerated.
Grandma recently had a heart attack and a quadruple
bypass so she is currently unable to work. This is a
letter from the family.
"Recently my wife had a heart attack and as a result was
unable to work. The loss of her income put a financial
strain on our family who is raising a grandchild with
cancer. We were happy to learn that through your
foundation we were able to receive some funds that would
help with our problems. Within days, we had a check sent
to our landlord to help pay our rent. Thank you Cal’s
Angels! You helped make a difficult situation such
easier." Bill &
Pam
June
2008 A Family in Need
During the process
of granting a wish for a 10 year old girl with leukemia
she suddenly passed away leaving her family devastated
and distraught. Rather than having them worry
about working to pay their $500 monthly rent, the
Foundation contacted their landlord and covered their
rent for May and purchased a $250 Target Gift Card so
that they could buy food and household items for their
other two children.
Car and
Utility Payments
We made a car
payment for a family who was falling behind in their
bills and for another we are looking to cover their
Nicor bill which was past due over $700. The financial
stress was clearly event in both families whose primary
focus is now their children battling cancer.
Travel
Expenses
A lower income family has to travel
several times a week from Carpentersville to Children’s
Memorial in Chicago – the amount of money they spend on
gas is making it difficult to cover the cost of other
items such as utilities and clothing.
Cal’s All-Star Angel Foundation purchased $750 in
gas gift cards for their use as needed.
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May 2008
Scholarship Winners
Cal’s Angels College Scholarship Program
(CACSP) just announced our first scholarship winners.
The main goal is to award the scholarships to young men
who exemplify the same qualities as Cal did during his
short lifetime.
 Kyle
Daker, South Elgin High School
At the time of application, Kyle had a GPA of 4.35 on a
4 point scale, was ranked 9 out of 392 in his class and
a 30 on his ACT. Kyle has played baseball since he
was five years old and when he’s not playing for the
high school, he plays for Bartlett travel. The
committee chose Kyle for the following reasons – he is a
true team player and leader, has a true passion for
baseball (“I can only speak for myself when I write
this, but when I read about his baseball highlights, I
was truly able to envision Cal out there on the field”),
started his own business sealing garage floors,
volunteer work with cancer patients through the Central
Dupage Hospital Pediatric Oncology Christmas Party,
F.A.C.E. Club (Facts and Cancer Education), Adopt a
Highway and Support Our Troops Illinois, 2 year member
of the National Honor Society, future academic goals to
attend the University of Illinois and obtain a master’s
from Northwestern – “getting things done the right way
the first time is the only way I know how. I am
not afraid of the extra work that comes along with doing
something the right way because in the end, I know it
will pay off. I believe leaders are born, not
made.”
 Michael
Mastalski, St. Charles North High School
At the time of application, Mike had
a GPA of 3.535 and was ranked in the top half of his
class with a 22 on his ACT. Mike also has played
baseball since he was five years old and has played for
teams in Aurora, Wasco and Burlington – he also plans to
play baseball for his first choice in colleges –
Carthage College which, by the way, was made possible
for him to attend through the Foundation’s scholarship.
If it were not for the CACSP, Mike would have had to
attend his second choice in colleges – this has really
made a difference in one young man’s life. The
committee chose Mike for the following reasons – he is a
true team player and has a passion for baseball, he is a
hard worker and shows pride in his personal
accomplishments displaying incredible determination and
drive, mentions his willingness to help the Foundation
above and beyond the minimum requirements (“If I am
lucky enough to be awarded this scholarship, I would be
honored to keep Cal’s memory alive through my love of
the game of baseball”), has very specific goals for his
future to attend Carthage College and become a police
officer – “I have learned how to accept losing, not as a
failure, but as an opportunity to learn.”
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March 2008 Sluggers Wish
Yeferson Sarmiento, 12, has battled Leukemia for 5
years. His wish was to take his siblings and parents to
Great America because he had never been there. He was
not able to go due to weather so we hope to finish his
wish some time soon. They also received a $100 gift card
to Walgreens for meds and a $125 Jewel card to help the
family with groceries.
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September 2007
Taylor’s Special Wish
Taylor Baum's wish was to go to Build a Bear
and the Rainforest Cafe with some girlfriends on
September 16. She also wanted to see Blue Man Group
which was scheduled for a later date with 7 family
members and was too sick to attend. She passed on Nov.
13, 2007 also from AML and at the tender age of 10.
Since she never made it to Blue Man Group we gave her
mother a $500 Target gift card, roughly the value of the
tickets, to help cover miscellaneous expenses.
Here's a message from Taylor's mother about her wish...
"This is a letter to say thank you so much for
making it possible for Taylor to have a wonderful day.
For one day forget about the nightmare we are in right
now. Taylor has been battling Leukemia since April 20th
2007. She has spent most of her time in the hospital the
last 6 months with chemo treatments, infections, tests,
and just being sick. After Taylor relapsed and with her
Birthday on September 18th I knew she needed something
to boost her up for a little bit. Thanks to Cal, the
wonderful foundation, and the wonderful people who have
donated time and Money to it Taylor was able to have a
day as a NORMAL kid. We were able to take our family,
and three of Taylor's friends to Build A Bear, and Rain
forest Cafe. Build A Bear was excellent. They were
amazing to Taylor. We took some very cool pictures that
we will be giving to you, and Taylor still talks about
that day, and is so thankful we were able to do that
together. She always has her Bear BlueBerry that she
made. Taylor has been having a really rough time the
last couple of weeks and hopefully things will get
easier for her, but one thing is for sure we are so
thankful we were able to have that day together. Thank
you!" - Tanya Baum
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August 2007
Paige Stibgen, Our First Wish
Recipient
Paige was our first wish recipient. Her wish was August
12 & 13. 2007 Paige had AML just like Cal and passed
away on Nov. 7. Her mother Joanna wrote this
message about Paige's wish...
"When you have a child with incurable cancer and they
want to go to the circus; you take them. It doesn't
matter where it is!!! So, we found the circus in San
Diego and on the plane we went. The Cal Sutter All-Star
Foundation not only provided funding for the day; they
took care of all the details. And of course, you can't
be in San Diego and not hit Sea World. The Foundation
went above and beyond, making Paige's day a day she
would never forget!!! We had an interaction with the
dolphins, a penguin tour and dinner with "Shamu". During
dinner the staff came and told us the Foundation had set
up a surprise for us. The staff took us to a 15 minute
private one-on-one time with "Shamu"!! The smile on
Paige's face was priceless!! That trip ended up being
Paige's last big fling and she talked about it a lot.
When it was time to decorate her 6th grade locker; she
did it with all her pictures from Sea World. I will
forever be grateful for the opportunities the Foundation
gave us and for making Paige's life a little brighter!!"
- Joanna Stibgen
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Return to Home Page> |
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Cal’s All-Star Angel Foundation, Inc.
721 Ashton Lane
South Elgin, IL 60177
www.calsangels.org
Phone (847) 960-5317 |
