Preschoolers raise money for cancer research

BARSTOW • Preschoolers may be a little young to understand what cancer is, but that didn’t stop 21 kids at Himmelrick Family Daycare Center from raising $540 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Kids ranging in age from 3 years old to 6 years old feverishly pedaled tricycles around the daycare center’s playground Wednesday for its first-ever trike-a-thon. Parents and teachers cheered them on while the kids made as many as 34 laps around the playground.

“Kids go out and get pledges for each lap they do and we send the money to St. Jude,” said Rochelle Himmelrick, the daycare center’s director and owner. “Even people from the community wanted to help.”

In the weeks leading up to the daycare center’s trike-a-thon, Himmelrick and other teachers talked to the children about how the money they raised would help kids their age who are going through cancer.

St Jude’s Trike-a-Thon is a way for daycare providers and preschools to raise money for children’s cancer research. Parents help their child collect sponsors through friends, family and coworkers. Sponsors make a flat donation or donate a specific dollar amount for each lap the child makes.

One of Himmelrick’s students had a sibling who died from cancer when the student was 3 years old. She declined give the child’s name, but said that was one of the reasons both the student and their family were participating in the trike-a-thon.

“Kids get sick and a lot of the times they don’t get better for a long time,” Himmelrick said, adding that St. Jude includes photos of some of their patients so Himmelrick can show the preschoolers what they look like. “The kids see that they don’t have any hair. You have to put it down to their level.”

Barstow resident Kathy Woodley shouted words of encouragement to her grandson, 3-year-old Kameran Cowan as he made his way around the daycare center’s playground. Kameran pedaled around the track about 14 times. Woodley and her husband sponsored Kameran at $20 each.

“Altogether he’s raised $100,” she said, adding that Kameran received pledges from neighbors, aunts, his mother and grandmother. “He’s very energetic.”

Sarah Himmelrick, Rochelle Himmelrick’s daughter, raised $120 and did seven laps on Wednesday.

“I like doing it for St. Jude’s hospital,” she said.

Rochelle Himmelrick encourages her students and their parents to get involved in charitable work and community service projects often. This includes participating in the city’s Make A Difference Day in October. Last year, the daycare center scraped and painted the Barstow Pregnancy Center’s building.

This is the first time the daycare center has become involved with St. Jude, she said.

“I love doing stuff like this,” she said, adding that she’s been in business for 29 years. “I want to see more children being helped.”

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(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com