Peace, Emily

Emily's Path, Inc. — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:46:43 +0000

Good things are happening today, all because of you.

Remembering Emily with Random Acts of Kindness

Emily's Path, Inc. — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:27:15 +0000

This Friday, June 17th, will mark two years since Emily passed away. Please help us honor her memory this week by performing a random act of kindness for a stranger. Hold the door for someone. Let someone go ahead of you in line. Pay the tab for the person behind you in line at the coffee shop, gas station or the drive-through. Say hello to a stranger and ask how their day is going. Bring flowers to a nursing home, and ask if you can give them to someone who doesn’t have many visitors. Surprise your waiter with a generous tip. Give a stranger a compliment (if you can manage to do it with Emily-like enthusiasm, you will make someone’s day!) Please post your random act of kindness here or on our Facebook page. If you want to remain anonymous, send us a message telling us what your did to honor Emily, and we will include it in a daily update, so that we can see all of the kindness being spread around in Emily’s name. Her spirit lives on….

Middle School Remembers Emily as 8th Graders Graduate

Emily's Path, Inc. — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:52:03 +0000

On Tuesday, May 24, 2011, John Muir Middle School honored the memory of Emily Bidu Eaton at their 8th grade annual award ceremony. Former classmates of Emily, represented by the student council, shared touchstones, remembering Emily’s loving energy, compassion for others and her vibrant smile. Several John Muir staff members also spoke of Emily’s positive impact and relayed how much her presence is missed. The student council president presented the Eaton family with an $850 donation to Emily’s Path that was collected from school staff members and students. The chain of love and compassion continues…

Emily’s Path Donates iPads to School

Emily's Path, Inc. — Tue, 31 May 2011 19:47:09 +0000

On behalf of Emily’s Path, Inc., four Apple iPads with protective cases were gifted to John Muir Middle School in Emily’s memory this May. This technology was chosen for its ability to expand the learning experience for students, as well as to assist teachers in creating presentations, spreadsheets and customized lessons. Students will have access to interactive learning that personalizes information to meet their individual needs. The iPads will certainly generate additional excitement and enthusiasm in the classroom!

Wii Did It!

Emily's Path, Inc. — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:56:19 +0000

In honor of Emily’s birthday, and thanks to your generosity, Emily’s Path donated a Nintendo Wii, 9 games, a drawing tablet, a racing wheel and an extra controller to the Aspirus Wausau Hospital Pediatric Unit. The games were selected by Emily’s sister, Olivea, and friends Alex and Maddie Prohaska. The Wii is sure to bring much enjoyment to pediatric patients, making their hospital stay a happier experience. Thank you to everyone who helped make this donation possible!

Happy Birthday Emily!

Emily's Path, Inc. — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:43:15 +0000

Today would have been Emily’s 14th birthday. To honor her memory, this week we are raising money to buy a Wii console and games for the pediatric unit at Aspirus Wausau Hospital. Emily was well-known there, and is remembered fondly by the staff. Currently the unit has one Wii and only three games for it. It is a big hit with the kids, but, at times, there is fierce competition for it, and the staff has said they really could use more games for it as well.

Our goal is to raise $500 for the Wii purchases this week. To make your online contribution, please click here. If you indicate that your donation is for the “Wii,” 100% of your donation will be used to purchase a Wii console and games for the pediatric unit at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.

Thank you for your generous support!

Help us find a home for an AWESOME radio control construction set!

Emily's Path, Inc. — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 15:44:23 +0000

Emily’s Path needs help finding a home for an awesome children’s building set. We received a donation of gently used Rockenbok construction toys – a 4 player radio control and construction system. The set includes everything shown in the picture, plus 3 controllers and some extras. It also comes with all of the assembly instructions. The set takes up a lot of space (4′ x 6′), and really should be left up, rather than putting it away. The fun is in playing with it — not setting it up!

If you know of a needy child (age 6+) or an organization serving children for whom this might be a welcome gift, please let us know!

Stem Cell Therapy Offers Hope for a Little Boy

Emily's Path, Inc. — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 22:57:23 +0000

Recently, Emily’s Path made a contribution to the family of William Weigel. William and his twin sister were born in February, 2008. They were healthy, active infants. When he was just 10 months old, Will’s aunt found him in his crib, not breathing. It was the morning after Christmas. Will had gotten into a family member’s blood pressure medication. Quick actions by his mom and aunt saved Will’s life, but he suffered permanent brain damage.

Will can no longer talk, walk, crawl, roll, or reach, although (as you can see from his picture) he still laughs and smiles! Almost three years old, Will has therapy nearly every day, and has made tremendous progress. While the therapy is helping, the Weigels are hopeful that stem cell therapy at a clinic in Germany may reverse Will’s brain loss.

“It gives him a chance, in a sense, to get new brain cells,” his father, Mike Weigel said. Stem cells are cells that have not gone through the process of cell differentiation and therefore have the potential to give rise to many different kinds of specialized cells. Will has now had two stem cell transplants, the most recent just 2 weeks ago in Germany. Stem cells were extracted from Will’s bone marrow and injected into his nervous system in the hope that they “will regenerate and replicate and turn into functioning brain cells,” said Will’s pediatric neurologist, Dr. Roshan Raja.

Will travels to Germany again in May, 2011 for a third round of treatment, this time having his stem cells injected directly into the brain. Insurance does not cover the cost of these procedures.

Please join Emily’s Path in helping the Weigel family pay for Will’s treatment. You may contact the family directly through Will’s Facebook page, or make your donation through Emily’s Path. Please indicate that your donation is for William, and 100% of your gift will be given to the Weigel family.

If you give to Will through Emily’s Path, your donation is tax deductible!

We are humbly grateful for your ongoing support.

Welcome

Emily's Path, Inc. — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:43:36 +0000

We’re glad you found your way to Emily’s Path. Our new website is just about complete. It occurred to me as I sat down to write this that we didn’t do the traditional “Welcome” blog post first. Our first post was about a boy for whom we are doing a special fund raiser. I guess that’s rather fitting, since the whole idea behind Emily’s Path is to carry on Emily’s spirit of putting others first. If you knew Emily, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, take a while to peruse our website, and hopefully you’ll get a sense of who Emily was, and why she is the inspiration for all of us at Emily’s Path.

It took me all of two seconds to choose the picture for this post. That’s Emily at age 7 (2nd from left), her sister and their friends, manning their annual lemonade stand back in 2004. Each year, they donated the lemonade stand proceeds to a charity they all agreed to in advance. One year, they did a letter-writing campaign along with the lemonade stand, and raised $1,000 for The SmileTrain. Pretty remarkable, considering what they had to work with. Maybe I should wrap this up and go make some construction paper signs. . . .

Special Fundraiser for a Wausau Child in Need

Emily's Path, Inc. — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 23:14:24 +0000

Recently we received a request to help a 12 year old Wausau, Wisconsin boy who is in need of costly orthodontic treatment. Andrew is a seventh-grader at a Wausau area middle school. He wears a hearing aid, and has a medical condition requiring blood transfusions every five weeks. Andrew has a severe overbite and misalignment of his teeth. These conditions affect his speech, make eating a challenge, and bring unwanted stares and ridicule. Something as simple as closing his mouth is difficult.

Despite these challenges, staff members at his school say that Andrew is a wonderful young man with a positive attitude. Andrew’s father lost his job during the past year, and the family is unable to afford the required orthodontic treatment, which is not covered by insurance.

Remarkably, neither Andrew nor his family has asked for any help whatsoever. Instead, staff members at Andrew’s school took it upon themselves to help him and approached Emily’s Path for assistance.

Your donation could help change this young man’s life forever. Thank you so much for supporting Emily’s Path. Emily would be very pleased to know of the good that is being done in her name. With your help, Emily’s spirit will continue to touch the lives of other children.