Community Corner

Emmaus High Pediatric Cancer Club to Hold Fundraiser on Triangle Saturday

Two local businesses have opened up their Chestnut Street building to the Emmaus High School Pediatric Cancer Club for a fundraiser from 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday during the Emmaus Old Fashioned Christmas celebration.

Amid the good tidings to be found in Emmaus during the Christmas season will be a fundraiser Saturday whose theme goes way beyond the sale of baked goods, hot dogs, hot chocolate and hot apple cider.

The 3-to-8 p.m. event on the borough Triangle during the Emmaus Old Fashioned Christmas is for children with cancer and in particular a 6-year-old spitfire named Sam Mackaravitz, who inspired some Green Hornet high schoolers to establish the Pediatric Cancer Club to help Sam and youngsters like him.

The club's efforts have not gone unnoticed by two borough businesses -- Pathways for Change, Children's Counseling Center, and Turn the Page Children's Reading Center, both at 401 Chestnut St.

So on Saturday, "the club members will be stationed at our office, on the wrap-around porch and inside," said Jodi Merrill of Pathways for Change. Her partner in the event will be Kim Clinchy of the reading center.

In reality, Merrill and Clinchy are more than "partners." They are sisters, natives on the northern Pennsylvania town of Athens.

Also, Clinchy is the mother of Zach Clinchy, the Emmaus High senior and football team member who helped found the Pediatric Cancer Club.

Merrill said she and Clinchy approached the club and offered to host members for Saturday's event. She called the members "huge-hearted, wonderful kids who all love Sam."

"Saturday's event is going to be fantastic," she continued, listing the fundraising recipients as the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley, Angel 34 Foundation (which helps children with cancer), and F.O.S. (Friends of Sam).

Noting that Sam attends Lincoln Elementary School in the borough, Merrill said: "It would be wonderful to see the students from his school here to support this cause."

Merrill also said there will be a special "Santa Tree" inside 401 Chestnut. "All the tags on the tree are items on Sam's wish list for Christmas," she said. "People can choose a tag with the name of the gift on it, purchase it, and return it to the office, where we will wrap it up and deliver it to Sam's parents in time for Santa and Christmas Day."

She added: "Sam's family is struggling with medical bills, the need for his mother to stay at home and drive him to his treatments and appointments so frequently, and the difficulty of the expense of the holiday season. The club members are hoping this fundraiser will help them have a few less worries."

And what do Sam and his parents, Melissa and Jeff Mackaravitz, think of Saturday's event?

"Angels on Earth come in the most unexpected places," they said in an email to Patch. "High schoolers going out of their way in the most bustling time of the year to sell hot dogs and baked goods to raise money for children with cancer is remarkable.

"Most of the children they are helping to make their lives better they have never met. This brings a tear to our family's eyes and warmth to our hearts."


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