Meet Emma, our 71st Kiss of HOPE. Emma is 13, and was referred to us by Journeycare of Barrington. She has been battling brain cancer since 2014. This Kiss started out with urgency around a Twenty-One pilots concert in Columbus OH. Emma’s family was concerned with how to get there in one car comfortably, as Emma needs to recline a lot while in the car, and there were 5 people going. Mom and Dad were going with Emma’s best friend and her mom. All they wanted was some rental assistance. So in swooped CKMC with a lot more than a rental, of course. 😉 They already had tickets, so CKMC booked the group a few suites at the Westin, a big comfy SUV rental, Lots of snacks for the road trip, Gift cards for meals/gas, and of course Twenty One pilots merchandise for each girl. Also, Emma is a BIG Red Panda fan, so we found a lot of Red Panda items to keep her happy. I also got them tickets to the Columbus Zoo the day after the concert. Mom and Dad were overwhelmed; “The girls are so excited about the hotel! I thank you again for your generosity and kindness. We are overwhelmed with gratitude!”
The Kissing didn’t stop there. In keeping with the Red Panda theme, CKMC was able to provide an ultimate zookeeper experience for Emma and her family at the Oglebay Good Zoo in West Virginia! Mom and Dad yelled “HAPPY RED PANDA DAY!” this morning from their 2 bedroom suite to wake up sweet little Emma! She was a zoo keeper for 3 hours and meet face to face with her favorite animal, the red panda! She interacted, help trained and fed the red panda and manyother animals! The next day, mom and dad had couples massages before enjoying the resort with Emma on paddle boats, playing mini golf, swimming and much more. April (Mom) texted Joe Kettner this morning and said “ Joe, you are the best! We are so excited for everything! This place is gorgeous. I cannot wait to share photos with you and Cinnamon. The three of us cannot thank you enough”. We saved the biggest surprise for last. Later after zoo keeping, the head zookeeper presented Emma with a special painting. He had the Red pandas create a painting for Emma!
