Sunday, June 3, 2007 1:10 AM CDT
Windsor elementary students raise money for two local girls battling diseases
By NATHANIEL WEST, Staff Writer
nwest@jg-tc.com
WINDSOR — Every little bit helps — sometimes immeasurably.
The $580 collected by Windsor Elementary School students for a couple of young tumor victims is doing far more than simply paying a few medical bills. According to the families of 7-year-old J.J. Dunn and 17-year-old Miranda Glosser, it really is the thought behind the fund raiser that counts.
“The support they’ve given to Miranda is priceless,” said her father, Ken Glosser.
He said efforts such as the fund raiser by the Windsor students benefit all levels of society. As diseases like cancer become more widespread, so too must the fight against these illnesses become important to children as well as adults, Glosser said.
“It’s kids getting involved, becoming more aware, and doing something about it,” he said.
Carolyn Dunn, J.J.’s mother, said the students “are just fantastic kids.”
J.J. completed first grade at WES this year, despite her ongoing struggle with neurofibromatosis — a genetic disease that causes tumors to grow on the nerves. At present, the little girl bears the burden of a malignant brain tumor.
Miranda, who just finished her junior year at Windsor High School, suffers from osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer. “We’ve been battling this now for about four years,” Ken said.
The latest bout is against a tumor in Miranda’s abdomen. She is undergoing treatment at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, and then she will go to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
Members of the WES Student Council spearheaded the fund raiser, in which collection jars were placed in classrooms throughout the school. About $290 was brought in for each of the two girls.
“We just wanted to help their families out,” said sixth grader and Student Council member Caleb Rakestraw.
Not surprisingly, the sixth-grade class of Miranda’s little sister, Lindsey, raised the highest amount for a single classroom, $180.26.
The students at the elementary school “are nicer people than I thought they were,” Lindsey said.
Zak Standerfer, WES principal, said he is “proud” of his students for their altruism. “To actually be concerned about another student, and to put some effort into helping them, that shows a lot of maturity,” he said.
But Carolyn Dunn and Ken Glosser both said the care for their children from the Windsor schools and community isn’t limited to fund-raisers.
When J.J. was in the hospital for surgery last year, her classmates made dozens of get-well cards for her, according to Carolyn.
J.J.’s first-grade teacher, Marci Croy, said her classmates “take care of her, they look after her.”
Ken said the entire town has gotten behind the girls and their families. And this universal type of support is needed increasingly as cancer becomes more common, he said.
“It’s getting to the point where everybody is going to have to start taking care of everybody,” he said.
Contact Nathaniel West at nwest@jg-tc.com or 238-6860.
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 Nathaniel West (JG/T-C)
J.J. Dunn, one of two Windsor youths to benefit from a fund raiser by her elementary school peers, plays at a park in Sullivan during a school field trip.
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