This month’s reflection has been contributed by Aimee Regan, a 2006-2007 Peacebuilders alumna from Fenwick High School in Oak Park.

Kick It! For a Cure

It has now been 2 years since I have gone through Peacebuilders. Unfortunately I do not remember all the wonderful details of one of the greatest weeks I have had, but I do remember how much fun I had helping others and learning about issues like social justice and peace in the world. I first heard of Peacebuilders from one of my teachers who thought I would make a good addition to the group. I was so excited to finally be given the chance to go on a weeklong retreat where I would get the chance to work with other teenagers to help those who are less fortunate. Helping others has always been something I have loved to do, but I was never able to find the right outlet that Peacebuilders gave me.

My small group and I worked at the Su Casa Catholic Worker Community. Every day we would go to the house and give the mothers a chance to relax and get things done by playing with their children. We also helped paint one of the apartments. These children only have each other and their mothers to be with. There is no one else who can help guide them through rough times or just hang out with them. They were so excited to see us come everyday that when it came to our final day they were all so sad to see us leave.

When thinking about what I would do for my peace project I knew I wanted to do something that would benefit children. I thought about what I could do for a long time. Then I finally decided that I wanted to help children who have been affected by cancer. My sister, who worked at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital at the time, came up with a new high school-level program that would raise money for the hospital known as Kick It! For A Cure. The program would be a kickball tournament in which the highest fundraisers from each sports team would play in a kickball game against the faculty. Each sports team mailed out letters to family and friends asking for donations for the hospital. At the culmination of the yearlong program we finally had our kickball game and pep rally. We were able to hand over a $47, 915.76 check to a patient who has been in remission for over 10 years. Also as a surprise guest we were able to get former professional American football placekicker Kevin Butler to come and begin the event with the first kick.

Overall the fundraiser was a huge success. It has now become a national fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and has continued to raise money through other high schools. Looking back on what we did for the hospital is very touching. It is amazing to see that we were able to raise that much money for one charity. We surpassed our goal of $20,000 easily. I even had multiple teachers come up to me and my committee and tell us that this was one of the greatest things they had seen happen in our high school. They said more people were geared up for this event than they had been for any other pep rallies we had had in the past. It just goes to show that doing something good for others will make people happy and wanting to continue to help.