This is the first year the China Elementary School has had a student council and they wanted to start big. So they decided to sell hearts for kindergartner, Connor Stanton, who has a very rare condition.
China Elementary may be small, but it's a school with a big heart. Student Council President Colin Lietzke tells 12News, "They're happy that they've been selling these hearts and raising all this money for Connor."
The Connor Colin speaks of is a kindergartner and to look at Connor Stanton you wouldn't realize that since 2011, he's been fighting a rare disease called kaposiform hemangioendothelioma or KHE.
His mother, Rebekah Stanton explains, "He has a vascular malformation that is in his abdomen and right now it's encased his gall bladder and his pancreas and he also has one on the spine and it just grows and it will consume his platelets."
So as one of their very first projects, the China Elementary student council decided to sell hearts to raise money for Connor and his family to help them with the costs of fighting the disease.
Lietzke says, "I'm very proud of them. They've done a very good job, all of the student council have gotten here at 7:15. Even the kids, they've just been buying with their own money. They've been handing $50 in at a time and sometimes even $100."
Just last year alone, Connor's doctor bills topped $200,000. His mother is grateful for all the kids are doing. Stanton says, "We can never say thank you enough. Our hearts go out to every body. It's just overwhelming."
So as Doctor bills mount up, the love shown from the community to Connor and his family is mounted on the walls of China Elementary School.
Because of where the mass is in Connor's abdomen and on his spine, surgery is not an option. Stanton says Connor had chemotherapy last year but the masses are still there. She says, depending on what happens in the next few months, if Connor's platelets go down, he may be eligible for a drug trial that's getting very good results.
So far, the kids have sold almost $4,000 dollars worth of "Hearts for Connor" and they plan to continue the sale until Friday, February 22, 2013.
If you would like to help the China Elementary School student council with their project, email the principal, Sandra Sherman at ssherman@hjisd.net or call the school.
