A group of preschoolers are setting an important example in kindness after they set up a hot cocoa stand to raise money for their classmates’s medical expenses.
Jasper Mazzocco, 4, was diagnosed with a rare type of brain cancer late last year and was hospitalized.
His classmates at Redding Cooperative Preschool in Redding, California, did not forget him. “The kiddos… miss and talk about him everyday,” Becky Haskins, a fundraiser organizer and a mother of one of the preschoolers said, “He is one of the sweetest souls that I have ever met and his family is just the same.”
The organized a hot cocoa fundraiser to raise money for Jasper’s family and was a big success with help from the parents, local stores and community and raised more than $10,000.
“They wanted to help Jasper in any way they could,” Haskins said. “That was a day that I will never forget.”
Haskins’ daughter wanted to sell lemonade to raise money, but with the dipping temperatures, she steered them all towards hot cocoa.
The space and water bottles was provided by Trader Joe’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods set up the tables and chairs, and Costco and Starbucks donated all the baked goods, while 3 Starbucks employees went back and forth to supply hot water to make the cocoa.
Jasper’s preschool teacher, Jessica Stephens, said some of their customers were cancer survivors who shared their own battles with cancer and also the stories when they lost along the way. “So many tears were shed in those six hours,” Stephens said. “This experience has been the most beautiful thing I have ever been a part of.”
Jasper’s mom, Shelby, said that the 4-year-old had surgery on Monday, and would be starting treatment again next week. His friends have been keeping tabs on his progress by calling him earlier this week.
“It’s was really neat to know they miss us as much as we miss them,” Shelby said. “He was on the phone with them [on Monday] saying ‘Hi’ to everyone and singing his little preschool songs with them.”
Although Jasper can’t see because of the cancer, but Shelby says he listens to her reading the cards his friends sent, and listening to the audio from the videos, too.
In an update, she said Jasper is showing more interest in his toys and is telling more number of jokes every day. Apart from the hot cocoa stand, more than 350 donors have raised $30,000 on a GoFundMe page setup for Jasper’s family.
These children have proved that there is no age barrier to showing kindness towards one another, what an inspiration they are to other kids of their age and to the whole world.
