Local students build boxes for children suffering illnesses

QUARTZ HILL – Each year Joe Walker STEALTH Academy Woodshop teacher Bruce Barron has his students build boxes for children who are going through serious illnesses.  More than 100 boxes were made this year to donate to Beads of Courage, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping children with serious illness record, tell and own their stories of survival.

Beads of Courage provides a special bead to each child that undergoes a procedure during their time of illness. Many of the children that receive a bead are battling heart disease or cancer.

The boxes provided by Joe Walker will be used to store the children’s beads.

“Mr. Barron and his students are wonderful examples of the lessons we as a District are teaching our youth to give back to the community, ” said Westside Union School District Superintendent Regina Rossall.

Students also included a handwritten note for each child who receives a box. In time, the boxes become treasured keepsakes for patients and their families.

All the boxes will be distributed to hospitals nationwide.

“I would like to thank the students at Joe Walker and Mr. Barron for this tremendous gift,” said Beads of Courage Volunteer Don Mourton. “They have really done something that will make a difference in somebody’s life.”

–