For Madeline by Martina

For Madeline by Martina - October 2013 Scholarship Essay

My family has always been extremely close-knit, so when I found out my twelve-year-old cousin, Madeline was diagnosed with a brain tumor; I immediately wanted to do anything I could to help her, her parents, and her siblings out. Madeline would have to go through an intense 9 to 12-hour brain surgery to remove the tumor pressing on her auditory nerve, causing hearing loss. A friend of mine and I, along with the tremendous support of our amazing community, organized a benefit dinner on September 16, 2011. We advertised the best we knew how and got as many donations as possible. This dinner was not anything out of the ordinary, just hamburgers, hot dogs, and dessert. Little did we know how much my aunt, uncle, and cousin Madeline would be impacted through this ‘small’ benefit.
Benefit planning was not as easy as I thought it was going to be. Since I was pretty much the leader of this benefit, I was the go-to person with any questions anyone in the entire community had. I learned that I would have to step out of my comfort zone in order to make this fundraiser a success. I had to learn to get my point across to donors as quickly and efficiently as possible, through the phone and in person. I had to learn how to accept rejection. I had to learn how to be organized with volunteers and donations, and use my resources well.
I was not really expecting to make an extreme amount of money. It was only hot dogs or hamburgers, chips, a drink, and dessert all for $5. There had also been a handful of items donated, mostly small, handmade wood projects my grandpa crafted, for a silent auction during the benefit. The benefit was on a Friday night in my high school cafeteria, right before a home football game, in hopes of getting more hungry people to donate to this good cause. As soon as the doors opened at 5, people came flooding into the cafeteria. There was a huge line, steady for the duration of the benefit.
As the night went on, I noticed that people really were not there because they loved hamburgers and hot dogs. People gathered in my high school’s cafeteria because they genuinely wanted to help my cousin and family in any way they could. I had random people coming up to me the entire night, handing me anonymous donations and telling me what a great job I did. It was an overpowering feeling of incredible joy and absolute selflessness. All good things have to come to an end, and I felt as if that time came rather quickly for this benefit. It was the moment of truth: time to count the monetary donations. We had multiple teachers counting the cash and checks we received, and the total finally came to the incredible amount of $7,100. Madeline was unable to attend because she was recovering from her surgery, but her dad, my uncle, was in attendance. I had the privilege to hand my uncle our community’s donation to him and his family. As tears welled in his eyes, the feeling of selflessness completely overwhelmed me.
I knew that $7,100 was just a small contribution compared to the cost of brain surgery, but money was not what this event was all about. It taught me so many things; things that could never be taught in the classroom. It taught me the ability of a community to come together. It taught me how to be selfless. It taught me that family is forever, and you never know how many people you have supporting you.