On Monday, Matthews Children’s Foundation and Helweg & Rowland Funeral Home director Joe Schlupp presented a grant for $1,000 to the Southampton-based Sunshine Foundation.
The funds, accepted by president Kate Sample, will help answer the dream of Milen, 9, diagnosed with spina bifida. Milen’s dream is to visit Disney World and the Central Florida theme parks. He said, “What makes me happy is laughing with my mom and sister. I also really like going to school and learning new things. Sometimes I may need a little bit of help and I have been through a lot of surgeries (ask me and I can tell you all about them), but I’m a normal kid who loves all the superheroes, especially Batman and Spiderman.”
Sample said, “We are so grateful for the continued support from Joe Schlupp, Helweg & Rowland Funeral Home and the Matthews Children’s Foundation for making children’s dreams come true over the years.”
Sunshine Foundation is the original wish-granting organization in the United States, established in Philadelphia in 1976. It answers the dreams of children, ages 3-18, who have severe or profound physical/developmental/intellectual challenges or trauma from physical/sexual abuse, and whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to financial strain that the child’s illness may cause. To date, the organization has granted the wishes of more than 41,000 children. Visit sunshinefoundation.org for more information.
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