Friday, January 17, 2014

Sparrow Club

I've been wanted to post about this for awhile, but I waited to make sure it was actually going to happen first.
John got selected by Sparrow Clubs to be one of their sparrows!  This is an amazing charity that teams up schools and kids in need.  The kids in the school come up with various ways to fundraise and the money goes to the sparrow child.
As most readers of the blog probably know, John is ridiculously hyperactive.  He desperately needs more outlets for his unlimited energy.  But, with his mental capacity he can't do any organized sports or even individual activities like jogging or riding a bike.  So, we have really struggled to find ways for him to get out and get active SAFELY.   If you've been reading this blog then you know that I found a bike that I think would be perfect for him.   This problem is that this bike is prohibitively expensive for our family.
This is where the Sparrow Club came in.  They understood immediately our unique need and set us up to be adopted by the great kids at Battle Ground high school.   The hope is that the kids can raise enough money to help us purchase that bike.
The experience so far has been nothing short of amazing.  The representatives from the Sparrow Club have been great and the students at Battle Ground have been so friendly and helpful.  It is quite humbling that they would do this for us.

Here is John's Sparrow Club page:
http://www.sparrowclubs.org/sparrows/john_hopper

And, check out this video that the Sparrow Clubs put together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNdSF_Vsnwo


Now for the fun part.   Battle Ground High School has a competition each year where one of the senior men gets selected as "Mr. Battle Ground".  The guys have to do dances, talents, etc. at an assembly and the build-up includes charity events such as car washes, yard work, and frozen yogurt night.   They have incorporated this tradition at BG High with fundraising for the Sparrow Clubs.  Awesome.

Yoshie, John, and I were fortunate enough to be able to go up to Battle Ground yesterday and meet Taylor (coordinator extraordinaire) and her planning team, as well as all of the Mr. BG contestants and many of their parents.   And they were all able to see John (who was his typical rambunctious self) and hear a little of his story.
We are looking forward to going up many more times in the leadup to Mr. Battle Ground!



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