Maybe it’s the time of year. The season of thanksgiving, the joy of the Christmas season being right around the corner, that has people thinking of others, or it might just be that there are special people that are selflessly guided to do something for someone else.
It was September of this year, after the Mapleton ‘Gold Out’ football game, that Cheyenne Herron, Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center (ACWHCC) sophomore from Mapleton, was impacted and felt the call to ‘do something’ for one particular someone. The Mapleton community, during this game, was showing their support for Addie Brightbill (7) who was continuing with her on-going battle with cancer, when Herron “saw an opportunity to make a life-changing experience for this sweet little girl.”
She had an idea. As a way to not only raise awareness for Addie’s cancer fight, but to help her family with costs they were incurring; a craft show benefit, it would be. It was Herron’s involvement as a volunteer at the Mapleton Craft Show that she knew hosting a craft show, especially around the holidays, would draw an interest and support from around the area.
That is when Herron, and fellow classmate Dice Johnson (ACWHCC, Mapleton), began working on the Addie Brightbill Benefit Holiday Craft Show. From concept to planning and execution, these students were able to facilitate all of the requirements that go into a craft show. They had to reserve a venue, register craft vendors, request raffle baskets, seek food vendors and design promotional materials. To their amazement, 30 local craft vendors reserved tables to participate and 29 raffle baskets were donated. In an effort to make this a family oriented event, Herron and Johnson were able to secure two food trucks, Midways Café and Hoskins Deep Fried Veggies (providing food for purchase) and have planned for a hot chocolate and coffee bar.
“I know personally how hard it is for a family to go through a battle with cancer and I saw this as an opportunity to help a strong Mapleton Mountie during another battle,” Herron stated.
The Addie Brightbill Benefit Holiday Craft Show will be held on November 25th from 10am-4pm at the Ashland Christ United Methodist Church (1140 Claremont Ave.). To participate in the craft show, sign up with this form.
All proceeds from this event will go directly to the Brightbill family.
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