On February 24th, 2012, the students of Vanderburg Elementary School are participating in the school’s 2nd annual Rare Disease Day event. More than 800 students are to spend the last hour of the school day creating denim “gene” ribbons personalized with messages of hope. The projects will be sent to hundreds of American families with children battling rare diseases like Gaucher’s Disease, the which affected Hannah Ostrea, the little sister of two former Vanderburg students, Ethan and Abigail Ostrea.
“I think it’s a great lesson to teach children,” said Principal Catherine Maggiore. “Not only are we doing a wonderful thing for this family, but it’s also teaching our children about community service.
“This activity allows our students to show families with children that are fighting rare diseases that there’s someone out there thinking of them,” she said.
The event touched so many children and staff that Ms. Maggiore and the Vanderburg PTA has turned Rare Disease Day into an annual event.
To learn more about last year’s event, please read the Las Vegas Review Journal article.