Elmhurst girls raise more than $12,000 via Kartwheels for Kids organization

ELMHURST – For the past three years, a group of Elmhurst teens have dedicated parts of their summer to lobbying local businesses and raising funds to end childhood hunger.

Maryalice Shockey, Katelyn Leonard, Martha Miklyukh, Grace Maniola, Lola Odorisio, CeCe Lampa and Emma Wheatland recently hosted the third annual Kartwheels for Kids event, generating more than $6,000 dollars for the Mission of Our Lady of the Angels.

To date, the Elmhurst girls have raised more than $12,000 in their effort to curb childhood hunger.

The girls created a series of games and activities for the Aug. 3 event that included hula-hooping, basketball, hockey and soccer contests, in addition to the mandatory cartwheel competition.
The winners of each activity received prizes such as tickets to Cubs and Bears games donated by local businesses.

Maryalice’s mother, Tracy Shockey, attests that planning, generating interest and soliciting local businesses began months before the Kartwheels for Kids event.

“Throughout the summer the girls rode their bicycles to different place in the community asking if they would be interested in donating something for their event,” Shockey said. “They managed to get enough donations to give out three prizes per age group, so they came up with nine prizes for each event.”

Elmhurst business Bounce Houses R Us donated a dunk tank, an inflatable game and even a snow cone machine, for example, and Sugar Creek Golf Course donated rounds of golf and buckets of balls for the range.

“Their goal is really to feed hungry children, but they want to also make sure that they know where their money is going,” Shockey said.

The Kartwheels for Kids girls found out about Mission of Our Lady of the Angels, a charitable organization in the West Humboldt Park area of Chicago, and decided their contribution could make a real difference in the lives of the children that receive help there.

“The girls visited the mission and they had a chance to see the kids eating and hanging out,” Shockey said. “They found out that about 200 children go there every single day and stay there until dinner hour, but they don’t have any snack food to give them.”

On Sept. 10, the girls presented Mission of Our Lady of the Angels with a check for $6,198 and requested that the funds be used to provide healthy after-school snacks for children who otherwise would not eat until dinner. Additionally, the girls were able to donate a refrigerator with support from Phil Calabrese.

Maryalice came up with the idea for Kartwheels for Kids after getting the opportunity to meet Sylvia Rozines, the central figure of the nonfiction book “Yellow Star” by Jennifer Roy. Rozines was only one of 12 children that survived the Lodz Ghetto in Poland during World War II, and Roy, who is her niece, tells her story in this 2006 book.

After meeting Rozines, Maryalice was inspired to do something to prevent children from going hungry. Even though she was only 11 years old at the time, she was able form a strong team of girls that have made Kartwheels for Kids a reality.

“Who knows where it will go from here,” Shockey said. “As parents we think they are doing such a wonderful job and we are here to support them.”