Wedgwood Third-Grader Shares Basket of Snacks and Smiles
The first thing you notice about Wedgwood Elementary School third-grader Paige Sawyer is her smile. And as District security officer John McKie, who came to know Sawyer through his visits to the school, soon learned, that smile would change his world.
When Sawyer recently noticed that the usually jovial McKie seemed subdued and saddened, she approached him and asked him why the smile had left his face. McKie shared that his wife, Debbie, a secretary in Superintendent Joe Bollendorf’s office, recently was diagnosed with breast cancer and that news temporarily had saddened him and a lot of others who cared about Debbie. Sawyer sprang into action.
With the aid of her classmates in Ms. Kimbery Amendt’s, Ms. Sheri Panichelli’s and Mrs. Annette Ranno’s class, Sawyer set in motion her Snack Packs for Chemo project. The students wrote personal, uplifting notes and decorated 127 bags that were filled with snacks – and smiles. On February 5th, McKie was among several special people who were the selected as recipients, and Paige personally delivered a gift basket to a surprised and grateful Debbie. Sawyer’s goal is produce 500 bags for 500 smiles.
“Paige Sawyer is showing others that your smile can change the world,” McKie, a retired corrections officer, said. “I am so thankful to Paige, her teachers and classmates for their kindness. I have no words for how proud I am of all the kids for what they did for me, my wife and the other families who have benefitted from their actions.”
“You are saving my husband a lot of trips to the store for snacks,” Debbie joked. “This is very appreciated. I am truly touched.”
Debbie McKie reads a personalized note from Paige Sawyer.
John McKie presented Paige Sawyer with a commemorative law enforcement challenge coin as a token of his appreciation.