Mother raises enough to take cancer survivor McKenna May, 4, to Disney World

According to the NY Daily news, They’re going to Disney World!

Friends, family, and complete strangers have raised more than enough money  to send a four-year-old girl whose leukemia is in remission to the Magic Kingdom  after her father denied the child a Make-A-Wish-funded trip to the Orlando theme  park because she wasn’t “sick enough.”

The story of McKenna May, who was diagnosed with leukemia as a two-year-old  but prevented from visiting Disney World by a seemingly bitter father ricocheted  across the nation this week, receiving coverage in national media outlets  ranging from Gawker to Business Insider.

When the story first ran in the Bowling Green Sentinel-Tribune, it was  reported that the child’s mother and grandmother had decided to try to raise  money for an alternate trip; the four-year-old had been talking about visiting  the theme park for months.

The women placed collection jars around their small Ohio town in an attempt  to raise the $3,500 they thought they would need if they drove from Ohio to  Florida. The task seemed Sisyphean, and on Monday, the local paper reported the  women were “still far” from their financial goal.

But then they moved online, and that was when the donations came pouring in.  The family created a page called “Disney Wish” on gofundme.com and in the short span of a few days,  238 donations totaling $12,696 made their way to the site as of Friday afternoon  EST.

“Looking at the figure above, simply takes my breath away,” Lori Helppie, the  child’s grandmother, wrote on the site. “Our family thanks you from the bottom  of our hearts.”

Most donations came in $5, $10, or $20 denominations, but a few gave even  more.

One anonymous donor contributed $500 and left no note, while another listed  as “Someone special” gave $1,000 without so much as a word.

Those who did leave notes seemed to connect with May’s story, even if they  didn’t know her.

“As an adult going through chemotherapy myself I was very touched by  McKenna’s story and had to donate something even though you have exceeded your  goal,” Jeff Rubin wrote with his gift. “Take some of the extra money to make her  trip as special as possible. Have a wonderful time.”

Rubin’s lack of concern that the family had exceeded its goal was echoed  throughout the page.

“If there are funds left over, I hope they can help defray the costs of  having a very ill child. We’ve experienced childhood illness in our family, and  my heart goes out to you,” the donors listed as Michelle and Stephen Farris  commented.

But the generosity didn’t end there. Numerous Disney employees and insiders  reached out to the Daily News in an attempt to offer the leukemia survivor  in-kind donations for the trip.

James Grosso, general manager of the Hilton Orlando hotel inside the Disney World Resort, contacted the Daily News after reading Thursday’s story to offer  the family five free nights’ stay.

“I could not imagine what this little girl has been through at such a young  age,” Grosso said. “If this very small token of a weeklong stay at our hotel can  bring smiles to that girl’s face after all she has been through, that was my  goal and motivation, that she gets to see what was promised to her, Disney World  and all it has to offer.”

The Daily News has forwarded Grosso’s message on to the family.

Related articles

• Father Denies Little Girls Make a Wish Disney World Dream (chipandco.com)
• Make-a-Wish rules let dad block kid’s Disney trip (foxnews.com)

Let our friends at Destinations to Travel help you book your next Disney Vacation. They are the preferred Travel Agency of Chip and Company and Disney Addicts, and who we use ourselves.

Get started below for your FREE No Obligation Quote.

Book With our friends at Destinations to Travel

Who is your Travel Agent?(Required)

Let us pick for youEric HilesStacy ReedAbbey JohnsonAlisa SullivanAlli WillisAmanda FolsomAmanda VannAmber BrillhartAmber FisherAmy SieburnAndrea SmithAngela AndersonAngie BaycuraAnna PetrilliAnnabelle DuboseApril StefanskiAshley RamseyBeth ParsonsBetsy SantoroBrandie McQueenBrian BuckleyBridget HatchBryan SchwartzCandice SneedCarrie ButlerCarson DockumCasey BoltCharleen HortonChelsea RoyChelsea WuebkerChris BoyerChristie GrubeChristina FratturaChristina SmithCourtney WhiteCraig YoderDan MercedDanielle NorcrossDarby MouritsenDavid ForrestDeborah AlvaradoEmilee BiegelEmily MorrisFaith HakesGail HatchGreg MatzkerHelen HummerHolly CurryJackie CavistonJaclyn PepitoneJamie SwansonJeanine JordanJeff CallahanJenni MaierJennifer BrownJennifer StephensonJennifer StoessnerJessica HatfieldJessica HuffJessica WunderJoe GuertinJon CarpentierJoseph SliwaJulie McCombJustin BrownKat AttridgeKathryn EberhartKathy AndersonKatie HarrellKatie PrevotKayla CookKelsey SullensKim HelmsKimberly HutchinsonKristi GallagherKyle RamsdenLauren DewlenLeanne MonterLinda DurhamLindsay AckermannLindsey VromanLissette BritoLori HardyMallory MorrisonMandi QuinnMaranda PerkinsMarisa AlvaradoMegan TeismannMeghan BlairMelissa ReedMichele KlineMike BeyerMissy McCormickMisty DickersonNancy CasteelNicole ThorntonPatrick O'ConnorPaul SulPeyton Ward-KubikRaylene CooganRegan OstranderRobbie BulusRobert ThomasSara SolbergSarah McCandlishShanna BrowningShelley BennettShelly MetzStacy CristStacy KrzyminskiStacy SmithStephanie DraganoStephanie FerencStephanie WalshSusannah McCordTara SlusserTerri MillerTiffany DobraskiTiffany DrenkhahnTina FarmerTonya LesiukTracy DaneTroy DuncanVeronica RenteriaVicki FesslerWendy CarllWendy HauserWendy KellehanWendy Shelley

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Destination(Required)

Walt Disney WorldDisneyland ResortDisney Cruise LineAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaAulani, A Disney Resort and SpaUniversal FloridaUniversal HollywoodRoyal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian or other Cruise LineI don't know yet

# of Adults(Required)

# of Children(Required)

Check-in-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Check-out-Date(Required)

MM slash DD slash YYYY

Comments, Questions or Special Requests

Name

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

For the BEST in Disney, Universal, Dollywood, and SeaWorld Theme Park News, Entertainment, Merchandise & More follow us on, Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube. Don't forget to check out the Chip and Company Radio Network too!