Cousins reach out across the miles to help
Pictured left to right: Nick Misuraca, Ava Mohler, Zach Misuraca and Reese Mohler raised money for Drew Birdsall, Reese and Ava’s three-year-old cousin who is currently being treated for leukemia.
Article and photo by Lisa Crockett
Three-year-old Drew Birdsall is from New York. A few months ago, his life changed drastically when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a cancer that attacks white blood cells and typically afflicts children ages 10 and younger. In just a few short days after his diagnosis, he and his family left their home and headed to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee for in-patient treatment.
Drew’s cousins, seven-year-old Ava and six-year-old Reese Mohler, live in Castle Pines. Even from this far away, they wanted to help Drew and his family. They set up a lemonade stand in their neighborhood and raised nearly $20 for their efforts.
“We are all looking for things our kids can do to help others,” said Reese and Ava’s mother, Annie. “This was a way to help them take action and show them that it’s not hard to help others.”
The Mohler’s friends, Zach and Nick Misuraca, who are nine and six years old, decided to get in on the act. But rather than sell goodies in their Castle Pines neighborhood, they set up shop at the CPN II pool over the July Fourth holiday weekend, hoping to capitalize on leisure-time traffic at the pool. With the help of their mom, they made popcorn, cookies and Jell-O squares, and also offered soda and water at their stand. They called themselves “Drew’s Crew” and set a goal of making $50 to help Drew’s family with expenses.
“I started brainstorming with the boys about ways they could help,” said Zach and Nick’s mom, Michelle. “We talked about how much set-up would cost, what our expenses would be, and how to do this in an effective way.”
And effective it was. At the end of business over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, the boys had earned a whopping $140, leaving their $50 goal in the dust.
“Drew is really sick,” said Zach. “It makes me feel really good to help him out.”
