Paige's Princess Foundation helps Liberty Twp. family get "magic" van

Hamilton Journal News - 3/18/2017

March 18--LIBERTY TWP -- Wyandot Early Childhood School first-grader Emma Turner says she needs a "magic van," and Paige's Princess Foundation is helping to make that wish a reality.

Emma has Mitochondrial Syndrome, a progressive disease that saps all her energy and poses many more problems. Soon she will have a "magic" electric wheelchair which will make it easier for her to get around, but the Turner family needs a special van to accommodate the chair.

So Paige's Princess Foundation is giving Emma and her family a $2,000 grant to put toward the $70,000 "magic" van.

The foundation, a charitable organization that helps kids with life-long disabilities, was founded in 2011 by Heather Alessandro after her daughter Paige -- a kindergartner at Wyandot -- died following liver complications due to her disabilities.

Alessandro said she had an "unmagic Yukon" when Paige was alive and once her daughter's wheelchair actually fell on top of her. She is happy to be able to help other families in the Cincinnati area who bear the burden of all the costs involved with helping children with disabilities.

"There were a lot of costs involved so when she passed away I felt like we should do something to help other families with those costs, because they are never going to go away," Alessandro said. "When you have a chronic disability it is a yearly battle of finances and resources to make sure that your child has everything they would need to reach their best potential."

The foundation's primary fund raising source is the annual Paige's Princess Run, a 5K and carnival on the Wyandot campus. This year the run is scheduled for May 20th. Alessandro said they raised about $35,000 from the first run after Paige died and before they were an official charity. Since then they have awarded 350 grants to help families with things like the adaptive van and other equipment, alternative therapies like therapeutic horseback riding and swim lessons, to name a few. The maximum grant amount is $2,500.

Emma says she is very excited about eventually getting her "magic" van, especially the part when she can go "whoosh" off the ramp. She gave a heartfelt thanks to Paige and the foundation and was ready to hand out candy to her classmates on Wednesday, to "celebrate Paige."

"It means a lot to me," Emma said. "They are going to help me get my magic van. I'll get to go to hockey, school longer, stuff like that."

Her mom Jen had tears in her eyes when she talked about this being the first grant she has ever applied for and actually received, because the need is so great and there are only so many funds available.

"It's life changing...," she said. "She is fighting Mitochondrial Syndrome, it's an energy crisis, she doesn't have enough energy to run her body. As she runs out of energy she doesn't have energy to sit, to grow, to learn, to run, to play."

Despite the debilitating disease the seven-year-old never quits.

"I never, ever stop fighting," Emma said. "Because I choose happiness."

Wyandot Principal Mary Brophy said the school stands by both the foundation and Emma 100 percent and she said it is amazing how similar the two little girls' are.

"Just through the twinkle in their eyes they engage people in a way that I just don't think that other children do always," Brophy said. "Paige was the same way, didn't know a stranger, didn't have anybody in this building that didn't know and want to do anything and everything for her."

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