5-year-old launches own fundraising campaign
PROSPECT — Hallie Colteryahn is only 5 years old, but it looks like she’s already learned the meaning of Christmas.
The only child of Jamie and Savannah Colteryahn has spent the last two weeks collecting money from relatives and strangers to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Hallie has even donated her own savings, turning the contents of her bank over to the cause, said her grandmother and neighbor Susan Ziegler.
“She went into her room and pulled out her bank and said ‘I want to give my money to St. Jude. These kids need it more than I do,’” Ziegler said.
Ziegler believes her granddaughter got the idea from seeing St. Jude’s commercials while watching television at Ziegler’s house. Ziegler said the ads featuring children without hair made a strong impression on Hallie.
“I’m her grandma, so I explained it to her. She said ‘I’m going to donate to St. Jude’s’, which I though was so dear,” she said.
Hallie was true to her word, beginning her fundraising campaign by kicking in her own savings and then asking relatives to make a contribution.
Her mother, Savannah Colteryahn, said Hallie began by asking her grandparents, then her cousins, and then branching out to strangers.
“We were at a store in Butler and a lady dropped her change. Hallie asked her to donate it to St. Jude’s. All the workers heard, and we left the store with $16 in change,” Colteryahn said.
Ziegler said Hallie collected $100 from the patrons of a restaurant. When a member of the congregation of Mount Nebo Presbyterian Church in Prospect mentioned Hallie’s project during a worship service, the congregation pooled $200 for her.
Ziegler said, “She said she wanted to raise $700, and so far she has raised $800 just by word of mouth.
“She tells them she is collecting for St. Jude’s, and they just give her money, ” said her grandmother.
“People just gravitate toward her. She’s a good person,” said her mother.
Hallie herself said, “They have given me a lot of money.”
She’s been collecting for St. Jude’s for two weeks, Hallie said, “because they need something for Christmas.”
“I’m going to do it even when I’m grown up,” Hallie said.
Colteryahn said, “We’ve raised $810 as of Thursday. We will make sure she reaches $1,000. We have family in Ohio that will be donating.
“We’ll put it in the bank and write a check to St. Jude’s or Venmo it before the end of the year,” she said.“ That’s the goal.”
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