Milton Craft Fair
The 25 members of EarthAngels received a donation of $500 from the
Milton Fair Committee (MFC) on Saturday, Nov 15. MFC Treasurer
Roger Kaigle (pictured) presented the check to the EarthAngels (back row,
left to right: Mike Fazzone, Paul Prince, Matthew Little, Sara Stowell,
Brittany Agan; front row, left to right: Heather Bell, Kayla Gennrich and
Danielle Cloutier-Simons), who were helping out at the craft fair, to honor
the group's contributions to the community.
The EarthAngels were founded after a group of teens rallied to honor their
friend, Allison Barkyoumb, who passed away while awaiting a heart
transplant. "The donation was given for the work they've done to make
people more aware of organ donation," said the MFC's Judy Kaigle.
"They helped load and unload cars and waited on crafters, and then they
stayed until the last vendor was gone," she added of the EarthAngel work at
the craft fair. "We couldn't ask for better kids we're so happy to have
them."
Thursday, September 11, 2003
By Joseph G. Cote
EarthAngels learn the spirit of giving from best friend
MILTON - By all accounts Allison Barkyoumb was the type of kid
everyone loved. She was the kind of kid that raised money to save
whales and loved to dance. She loved Michael Jackson and didn't like
her hair. She was the kind of kid who was diagnosed with aortic stenosis
when she was three months old, but would only tell her closest friends.
After what should have been routine surgery to replace a heart valve,
Allison suffered complications. She then became a candidate for a heart
transplant. On Thursday, Sept. 12, 2002, Allison suffered a brain
hemorrhage and was put on life support. After more than three weeks
atop the candidates list, she died. But a group of her friends has been
working since then to preserve her memory and make sure the same
thing doesn't happen to others.
There are 18 members of the EarthAngels and already good things have
been happening. In particular for a baby named Samantha, in Highgate.
One day Julie Gennrich, whose daughter Kayla was Allison's best friend,
was in convenience store in Milton and she found a canister collecting
money for a three month old baby named Samantha Hallock. Samantha
needed a liver and the EarthAngels had their first project.
"We knew from Allison's experience how much it could cost," said Sara
Stowell.
After passing out canisters of their own to raise money, the group also
had a car wash last Saturday afternoon. The group also sells hemp
jewelry from its website, which helped raise money for Samantha. In
total, the donation to the Hallock family will be between $800 and $900.
Samantha has received her new liver and is doing fine, according to her
aunt, Sharon Wheelock. But even with their recent success, the group
members maintain that the point of the group isn't to raise money, it's to
raise awareness.
At craft fairs and car washes the group holds, they hand out donor cards
to anyone who will take them. They did the same after the July 4 parade
in Milton.
Recently the group hit it big. Seventeen Magazine featured the group in a
small article and since then hits on the group's web site have increased to
more than 100 per day. They are also invited to a "Share the Beat"
function in Los Angeles and will be speaking there, about the friend they
all lost, on September 20.
"It's gone past Milton, I can tell you that," Julie said.
Soon the group will be registered as a non-profit and plans to apply for
grants when that paperwork is complete. The group is also interested in
working with the legislature to change a detail of driver's licenses that
most people overlook.
"Many people think checking the organ donor box on the back of a
license is enough, but in fact it is still family members who have the final
call in the hospital," Julie said.
Samantha recently returned home to Highgate and seems to be
recovering, according to Wheelock.
"She's eating good and starting to gain weight back," she said. "Her
immune system is still compromised, so people need to wash their hands
before they touch her, but she looks great since the last time I saw her."
Despite the apparent success in Samantha's case the group knows its job
will probably never be done. The goal, according to Heather Bell, is "for
everyone to be a donor."
"I think most people don't really think about it," Kayla said.
"Before Allison died I never thought about it," admitted Bell. Allison was
at the top of the donor list for more than three weeks and no one within a
2,000 mile radius, who died during that time, was a suitable donor,
according to Julie.
"We're not going to accept that," she said. "We're going to change that.
One town at a time, one car at a time, one hemp necklace at a time."
*NOTE: Some of the facts in this article are not correct.
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