Through the Make-A-Wish Foundation and its Students for Wish Kids Program, the schools are raising money and donating $1 from every ticket sold for the game to help kindergartner Ashleigh Wade go to Disney World.
She will be presented with her wish during a pregame ceremony.
Ashleigh was just a week old when she was diagnosed with Tricuspid Atresia, a congenital heart condition. Her mother, Jennifer Wade, said Ashleigh has undergone three open-heart surgeries and currently is doing well.
This fundraiser came about when Sean White, a former Centerville High School football player and board chair of the Greater Ohio Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, brought the idea to the attention of the schools.
“When I found out they were playing, I knew it was going to be an exciting venue with lots of participation,” the 1992 CHS graduate said. “We always wanted to play those guys.”
White said he contacted Centerville athletic director and head football coach Ron Ullery, an assistant coach when White played. Ullery said it was a “no-brainer.”
Alter athletic director Christina Hart also immediately agreed to help.
“This shows the positive side (of the community effort),” said Ullery, noting that Ashleigh’s plight puts the football game in perspective.
In addition to the ticket sale donation, students from each school will collect donations outside the gates prior to the game, the Centerville Athletic Boosters will contribute funds from concession sales, and the Elks baseball team will make a donation from its 50/50 raffle at the game.
White said he remembers CHS and its efforts to give back to the community.
“When I was there, I just recall the blood drives, competing against Fairmont, and I recall our student organizations doing different things,” he said.
The Greater Ohio Chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation has granted more than 4,500 wishes in 27 years, and has budgeted 150 wishes for this year — including Ashleigh’s.
“What our foundation does is give our children something to think about other than their treatments,” White said. “They look forward to it, and look back on it once it is done.”
He said the average wish costs $6,000, and “there hasn’t been a wish that we haven’t fulfilled.”
Wade said her family, which will have 19 members at the game, is amazed by and extremely grateful for the efforts being made by the foundation and the schools.
“We have been so impressed by Centerville and Alter,” said Wade, a Miamisburg High School graduate. Her husband, Dustin, graduated from Tippecanoe. “The fact that they are doing this says a lot about them.”
Ashleigh wasn’t sure who was playing in the game, but her 9-year-old sister Jessica is rooting for Centerville. The girls also have a 1-year-old brother, Danny.
Ashleigh said she is more excited about the possibility of seeing The Little Mermaid and “her dolphins” at Disney World.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7325 or jikelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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