By Joe Hadsall
jhadsall@joplinglobe.com
Devyn McPherson, of Carl Junction, didn’t have typical dreams about what her “sweet 16” birthday party would be like.
She said she thought mostly about getting a car, but that was it.
But then she and a friend, Hanna Joyner, 18, had an idea to change their birthday parties into a fund-raiser for breast-cancer patients.
“We know people with breast cancer,” Joyner said. “When you see that happen, you want to do something about it.”
McPherson and Joyner had a joint birthday party earlier this month at The Foundry in Joplin. The two requested donations to the Hope 4 You Breast Cancer Foundation instead of presents.
The teens presented a check for $2,950 to the foundation during its meeting Wednesday.
“What a way to start off a meeting,” said Holly Adams, president of the foundation. “What they did touched our hearts. They have set a great example for all of us.”
McPherson and Joyner are teammates on Carl Junction High School’s girls basketball team. For about a year, the two tossed around the idea of asking for charitable gifts instead of presents for their birthdays.
When McPherson found out that Kelly Smalling, sister of her mother’s best friend, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year, the two teens made up their minds.
“They decided on Hope 4 You, because it was local,” said Cortnee Rogers, Smalling’s sister. “They wanted to keep the money in their own community. It may bless someone who walks by.”
The weight of what the teens were doing didn’t hit until Smalling found out.
“To use such big events in their lives to help someone else is beyond belief,” Smalling said. “I wouldn’t have been that mature at their age.”
The two, with the help of their families, organized the party at The Foundry. More than 100 people turned out for the event, which was a formal affair featuring dancing, food and a fund-raising gift basket.
All of the money raised went toward the donation for Hope 4 You. The girls even donated money they received in birthday cards from their families.
Devyn’s father, Judd McPherson, said he and the Joyner family helped pay expenses for the party.
“She was going to have a ‘sweet 16’ party, regardless,” Judd McPherson said. “So we handled the expenses. We didn’t want those to come out of the donations.”
The party went off without a hitch. The two teens said they were thrilled with the donations and the support from their friends and classmates.
“So many helped us out,” Joyner said. “A lot of the guys who came made donations, too. That was cool to see.”
Smalling, who received a chemotherapy treatment on Monday, said that when she found out how much the girls were donating, she was floored again.
“I’ve been blessed to have people by my side to get me through this,” she said. “There hasn’t been an act or deed that has touched me more than what those girls have done. They are two amazing young women.”
