ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Preschoolers in Nocatee are raising thousands of dollars for kids battling critical illnesses.
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The Learning Experience on Greenleaf Drive is open for kids as young as six months to VPK students who are 5 years old.
The preschoolers are aiming to raise $10,000 by the end of April to to donate to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The money would go to Make-A-Wish Foundation kids in the Jacksonville area who are dealing with life-altering illnesses.
The bright young students in Nocatee are making banners and cards for the kids they will be helping.
It is something Meredith Magee, who is the director at The Learning Experience in Nocatee, says her preschool does every year.
“It makes the connection real,” Magee said. “That is what I love.”
Magee says this effort is teaching her students kindness, giving back to the community and sharing.
The Learning Experience’s goal is to fund two wishes for kids within the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Magee says over the last seven years the school has participated, some wishes granted included a Disney World trip, shopping spree, a day as a law enforcement officer, one girl being a cowgirl for the day and one child choosing to do a community giveaway.
If you would like to contribute, you can donate here.
“These children are just so strong,” Magee said of the Make-A-Wish Foundation recipients. “They are little heroes and we love supporting them.”
For example, in order to raise money, the students made superhero art and it is auctioned off. That is something they are doing again this year.
“I am honored to see how much it means to the families and watching our children take part with just the smallest fundraisers,” Magee said. “Seeing the parents come in with big hearts, making the wish as possible, and then seeing them implemented, it is a feeling I cannot describe.”
The learning academy even raised more than $25,000 in one fundraising cycle in the past. There are 125 students at this particular academy.
There are more than 400 different The Learning Experience campuses across the United States and in the U.K.