A new Burlington Community High School club is working to fulfill the wishes
of Great River Hospice patients.
The 40 members of the new DreamCatchers chapter have planned a fundraising
rally Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Aldo Leopold Middle School, 3075 Sunnyside,
Burlington. The doors will open at 6 p.m. for a silent auction and raffle
ticket sales. Caitlin Crommett, founder of the international DreamCatchers
organization, and representatives from Great River Hospice will begin
speaking at 6:30 p.m. Refreshments will be available.
Crommett founded the organization in 2009 when she was a 15-year-old high
school sophomore. The Burlington student group is the first DreamCatchers
club in Iowa.
“We are really excited to start this up. It is good for the students
to be involved in something so real that provides experience that extends
beyond the walls of the high school,” said Cody Wright, President
of the BHS DreamCatchers group.
“The club is a partnership between the school, Great River Health
Systems and a business working together for the common goal of helping
hospice patients. It’s like an adult version of the Make-a-Wish
Foundation,” said Amy Burkhart, Great River Hospice community liaison.
“Curtis Cloke heard Caitlin Crommett speak last year and wanted
to bring DreamCatchers to our community. His business, Acuity Finanical,
is sponsoring her trip, and it has donated money to help the club fulfill
its first wish.”
Great River Hospice staff have been making patients’ wishes come
since it began in 2002. They have included taking a patient on an airplane
ride, having a roller-skating birthday party for a patient’s daughter
and planning a luau for a patient who had always wanted to visit Hawaii.
“We want to expand our ability to do these types of things for patients
by igniting the passion of these young people,” Burkhart said. “DreamCatchers
provides the opportunity to do it.”
For more information, please call Burkhart at (319) 768-3392.