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RED BANK: CARNIVAL OF DREAMS

rbc carnival 050716 4lauterwasser defazio 050716Hoping to raise $15,000, Red Bank Catholic High School‘s Making Wishes Come True Club held its sixth annual fundraising carnival Saturday for the borough-based Jason’s Dreams for Kids, the not-for-profit organization founded in memory of Jason Douglas Craeger, a young boy who lost a battle with cancer in 1992. 

Overcoming a rainy start, the event drew hundreds of kids and parents with bounce attractions, auctions, and food provided by the local Police Benevolent Association and the volunteer fire department. We’ve got more photos from the event below.  (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

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RED BANK CATHOLIC HOSTS ANNUAL CARNIVAL

RBC_Version_Carnival_Postcard_2016Back in February of 2010, Red Bank Catholic High School science teacher Ashleigh Kennedy received the news that her daughter Kasey was afflicted with a serious medical condition — a diagnosis that saw the four-year old approached by Make-A-Wish® New Jersey, the nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the dreams and wishes of Garden State children with life-threatening medical conditions.

As Kennedy recalls, Kasey’s wish was to NOT take her wish — but rather to raise funds to grant wishes for other children battling as she was. The young girl’s selfless decision inspired the school’s students to establish RBC Making Wishes Come True, a club dedicated to helping Kasey fulfill her wish by organizing an annual fundraising carnival. Five years after the first successful carnival, the event is still growing in popularity — and on Saturday, May 7, the parking lot of adjacent St. James Elementary School (30 Peters Place, between Broad Street and Maple Avenue) will one again serve as the site of the fun(d)raising fair, with all proceeds dedicated this year to a local charity for kids to whom a wish granted could make a big difference.

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RED BANK: GIRL’S WISH IS TO ENABLE OTHERS

kasey kennedy 060314Eight-year-old Kasey Kennedy, a student at St. James School in Red Bank, with the members of the Red Bank Catholic Making Wishes Club – plus her little brother, Colin. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

RBC Carnival 2104As a child with a life-threatening blood vessel disorder, Kasey Kennedy found herself with a decision to make four years ago. The Make A Wish Foundation was offering to fulfill whatever wish she might have.

But having spent a lot of time in hospitals with other kids, Kasey decided she want to help make their wishes come true, rather than her own.

Why, when she could have indulged in her own fantasies? “Because I met friends in the hospital,” she told redbankgreen.

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