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Twins’ carnival has friend swinging
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AT HOME: Sarah Williams, 12, and her mother, Terri, sit behind their Poland home where their neighbors, Kara and Alex Thompson, staged a fund-raising carnival for Sarah last month. Sarah suffers from a rare, progressive, genetic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.
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BEING NEIGHBORLY: Twins Kara and Alex Thompson, 11, from left, conducted a fundraiser last month for their neighbor, Sarah Williams, 12, who sits in a special swing in her Poland backyard that her parents bought with donations raised from the benefit.
By Denise Dick
The goal was about $400, but the carnival brought in more than $3,100.
POLAND — While many children their age whiled away their summer days, frolicking in the pool and sleeping late, Kara and Alex Thompson spent their time helping a friend.
“I wanted to have fun and to help someone at the same time,” said Kara, 11.
The twins organized a carnival last month to raise money to buy a supportive swing for their neighbor and classmate, Sarah Williams.
Sarah, 12, suffers from leukodystrophy, a rare, progressive, metabolic, genetic disease that affects the brain and spinal cord.
“When their mom first asked me if it would be OK for them to do this, I thought of the swing that we had been planning to buy,” said Terri Williams, Sarah’s mother.
The swings cost between $300 and $500 and Williams expected the children’s carnival to raise a portion of that. She and her husband, Tom, would make up the difference.
The carnival staged in the Knollwood Avenue backyards of both families brought in more than $3,100.
“I was very surprised,” Williams said.
The swing arrived last week and the family will likely use the rest of the money toward a wheelchair lift for Sarah. Her parents carry her and her wheelchair in and out of the house.
“I wanted to do a fundraiser and I thought of Sarah,” Kara said.
She, Alex and Sarah will all be in sixth grade this year at Struthers Middle School. They’ve known each other for about five years and shared some of the same classes in elementary school.
The carnival offered a wide variety of games. “We had cornhole, toss a ring on the bottle, boat races,” Alex said.
Sarah said trivia was a particular favorite, where players tried to answer a series of questions about the guest of honor.
What’s Sarah’s favorite color? “Purple,” Sarah said with a smile.
Her favorite place to eat? “Belleria,” she said.
One that most contestants answered correctly was who is Sarah’s favorite Disney princess.
“It’s Snow White,” said Williams, pointing to a snapshot in the family living room with her daughter and the fairy-tale princess.
The carnival netted the Williams family another donation too. A man who attended had a motorized wheelchair he no longer uses and gave it to Sarah.
Kara and Alex got the word out about the carnival by telling their friends about the worthy cause.
“We distributed fliers to people around the neighborhood and told them to bring a friend,” Alex said.
Sarah was diagnosed with the rare disease within the past year.
The Web site of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says the most common symptom of a leukodystrophy disease is a gradual decline in an infant or child who previously appeared well. The progressive loss may appear in movements, gait, speech and behavior, the Web site says.
Sarah undergoes physical, occupational and speech therapy.
There are no known cures for the disease, and medication treats only some symptoms.
“You just try to make every day happy,” Williams said. “You have to be hopeful.”