Who Was Emily?
Emily Michael was an angel here on Earth to everyone who knew her. She faced every adversity with poise, grace, positive energy and a smile on her face. Emily made a difference in the world around her just by being here, and by being her.
Emily lived with heart disease and perceived herself the same as everyone else–from her view she simply needed to run slower and take more breaks. She was a very loving child. While she was recovering from a heart procedure at Children’s Hospital, she wanted to give other children stuffed animals. With her heart monitor and IV in tow she visited each occupied room in her area and picked a Beanie for each patient she visited. It brought smiles to the hospital children, the staff and the doctors. She brought smiles to so many children and it was so very welcomed. Emily visited a particularly ill baby – she called him Baby Clifton. When she visited him he returned a tremendous smile and followed her every step. Clifton’s mom told Emily that she must be an angel, as Clifton didn’t smile for many. Turns out they are angels together.
A simple act of kindness can mean a world of difference to so many. One of Emily’s most prized possessions were school program acknowledgments awarded to her for her act of being kind or helpful. Emily’s Hope will carry on these kind and helpful acts that improve life for children and provide the means to bring those in need support and hope.
Emily’s Hope is dedicated to the memory of Emily Michael, and to fulfilling her promise and potential. It is committed to making the lives of children better in small ways and large ways.
Empowering children to make their world a better place
Fundraising
Emily’s Hope will fundraise through a variety of methods and ways. First and foremost, we partner with local schools and businesses to facilitate change and raise money on a more grass roots level. These can include schools Emily attended, and those in her community, along with any schools looking for a service learning piece to add meaning to their instruction. We also partner with other similarly minded non-profits to stretch our reach and raise our profile. On occasion we will hold fundraisers at area businesses that are supportive and willing to donate a portion of the proceeds of the event to Emily’s Hope. This can range from local supermarkets, such as Whole Foods, to local restaurants, like Silver Diner and Tropical Smoothie. Partners can also include smaller home based businesses, such as Pampered Chef and Silpada consultants.
As for where we will donate the money we raise, Emily’s Hope will be entirely child and student driven, empowering children to make their own world a better place. Our projects have included building a new and more enhanced school room for an orphanage in Malawi; donating $25,000 to provide books to underfunded public school libraries in Virginia; providing $10,000 in funding for food pantries in Virginia and California; and currently we are working to provide a service dog to a wounded veteran.