“Our projects can make the difference
between living and dying, seeing or being
blind, and being whole or crippled,” says Jack.
“If a starving child showed up on your doorstep, wouldn’t you help? Traveling just moved
our doorstep.”
— Arthur H. Bleich ( arthur@dpcorner.com)
Miracles come in all sizes
Lauren Paige Small was born on August
1, 1994, in Bakersfield California. She died
December 1, 2005, after battling cancer for
almost two years. It was a nightmare for her
parents and extended family, as the 11-year-
old, described as an “inspiration with a contagious smile and vibrant personality,” fought
her disease every step of the way.
As a result of this experience, Lauren’s
grandmother, Joan Hardy, wanted to find a
way to help families cope with the financial,
emotional and physical strain of having a
child with cancer.
“The hardships of not only dealing with
the heartbreak of a child with cancer, but also
the monetary stress of day-to-day expenditures, can devastate a family,” says Hardy, 66,
who is herself a cancer survivor. “Maybe
they’ve got to drive 200 miles to treatment.
They have to find a hotel, have to eat.
Meanwhile, other payments aren’t being
made. How do families afford this? It is almost
beyond comprehension.”
With her husband, Skinner, and friends,
Hardy started the Small Miracles Foundation
(SMF;
www.smallmiraclesfoundation.org), to
relieve families from some of that stress.
“We work through social workers, who
help us choose families,” says Hardy, who
lives with her husband in southwest
Oregon. With a cap of $1,000 per
MARCIA FASY
Reading relief not the usual aid
Inspiration hit Logan Kleinwaks hard on
September 22, 2007. On that day, a Washington
Post article about a Darfur refugee became the
catalyst for launching what would become the
nonprofit Book Wish Foundation (www.
bookwish.org).
That article concerned a displaced man
hungry for reading material to help him feel
connected to the world while residing in a
refugee camp in Chad. Logan pointed out the
article to his mother, Lorraine—like himself,
an avid reader—and said, “We can help him.”
family, the foundation can help pay bills, provide vouchers for fuel and help get families to
the hospital.
Through an all-volunteer board, fund-raisers and grant monies, SMF is able to give
98.04 percent of its budget to applicants. Over
the last three years the foundation has provided aid to more than 160 families.
“I was able to let Lauren know what we
planned to do before she died,” says Hardy.
“And my angel girl is still here, still administering, helping us look after the families and
the children.”—T. Foster Jones
Top photo: Miracle workers:
(left to right, row 1) Beth Nace,
Pat Troop, Sandi Gibson; (Row
2) Skinner Hardy, Joan Hardy,
Winnie Dykman. Bottom
photo: Teachers display new
English-as-second-language
textbooks from Book Wish
for Darfur refugees in
Bredjing Camp, Chad.
ANNE GODDARD, CORD
