By BRETT CARROLL
Staff Writer
Red Bank Catholic High School hopes to make some wishes come true on June 3.
The school’s Making Wishes Come True program will serve as the host to a benefit carnival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Saint James parking lot at 112 Broad Street in Red Bank. The carnival will contain multiple rides, a rock wall, face painting, a video game truck, as well as other activities.
Admission for the carnival is $15 for an all access pass to all the rides, games, food, and activities. A $10 pass is also available that gets participants into the park and access to food. All proceeds of the carnival will go to the charity Jason’s Dreams for Kids. The school hopes to raise $15,000 for the charity.
This is the sixth year that the schools will hold the benefit carnival. The program started in 2011, a year after Red Bank science teacher Ashleigh Kennedy’s daughter, Kasey, was diagnosed with a serious brain medical condition called ITP and Arnold Chiari Malformation, according to Kennedy. Arnold Chiari Malformation is a condition in which the brain tissue extends into the spinal canal, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“We were definitely frightened,” Kennedy said. “We were able to find a doctor that we trust and she had to have surgery. She’s healthy now, but her immune system is weak and her bones are a little brittle from the treatments. But she’s healthy and happy, and that’s what matters the most.”
Kasey was approached by the New Jersey chapter of Make a Wish foundation. Kasey, who was four at the time, instead declined the opportunity to get her wish granted and decided to do something to help other kids in need, according to Kennedy.
“It wasn’t surprising at all,” Kennedy said. “Ever since she was a little girl, she always put others first. That’s just her personality. She knows that she’s blessed and my husband and I take great care of her, so she always wanted to help those who might be less fortunate and more in need.”
The move led to Kennedy and Red Bank to form the Making Wishes Come True foundation. Each year, the group holds a benefit carnival and chooses a local organization to give the funds to.
According to Kennedy, the carnival benefited the New Jersey Make a Wish Foundation for the first four years. In 2015, Kennedy learned about Jason’s Dreams for Kids from one of her students in Red Bank, and has been giving the carnival’s donations to that organization for the past two years.
Kennedy’s students who participate in the Making Wishes Come True club are responsible for putting the carnival together every year, along with Kasey. According to Kennedy, the group just got back from Florida where students helped some of the kids have their wishes granted.
“That’s what it’s all about for me,” Kennedy said. “Seeing these kids giving back to the community and helping others is what it’s all about. We were once that family that was scared and didn’t know where to turn. You say you don’t need anything, but in reality, your whole world just got turned upside down, and you need a lot of things. You’re just too scared and too proud to say it.”
Companies and organizations can still sponsor the event by donating. Interested parties should email Kennedy at [email protected] or by calling her at 732-615-7277.