Myla Bui presented the Help Fill a Dream Foundation with the fruits of her fundraising efforts Saturday, helping better the lives of several critically ill Victoria children in the process.
But the 11-year-old did not present a cheque for $1,001 or even $2,002, the early targets she set in October with her 1001 Cranes, 1 Wish project. Instead, Myla and her family handed over two intricate origami mobiles and $31,031 in funds.
“If an individual event raised $30,000, they would be over the moon,” said executive director Craig Smith of the Help Fill A Dream Foundation.
“Super successful is $20,000 to $25,000, for events that have been around for a number of years. That would be the standard. This one little girl has organically created this groundswell that touched so many people.”
1001 Cranes, 1 Wish is based on senbazuru, an ancient Japanese legend that grants a wish by the gods to anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes. (Myla added the extra crane for good luck.) Per custom, the cranes are strung together in a mobile and presented to a sick person in the hope they get well.
The project was Myla’s way of paying forward the service that her family received from the Help Fill a Dream Foundation after her sister Leila was struck in a Gordon Head crosswalk in 2017. The collision left Leila, then 11, with severe brain damage and the family a mountain of costs associated with her recovery.
“When we needed help, the Help Fill a Dream Foundation stepped right in,” Kairry Nguyen, the girls’ mother, said. “We just wanted to give back.”
The initial goal was to collect a dollar for each crane Myla made, which would result in a mobile and $1,001 donation. The target was quickly bumped up to $2,002 and two mobiles for two sick children, a mark hit in early November.
Myla has decided to continue making cranes until the money stops coming in, even though the donations have outpaced her ability to keep up.
“A lot of people were affected by the accident, and did not know how they could reach out and help, so this was a way for them to do that,” Nguyen said.
Two of Myla’s mobiles were delivered Saturday. Myla said she is committed to honoring her initial agreement, and plans to continue making mobiles for every dollar she raises for sick children.
“I just want all the kids to feel happy when they get their mobiles and the donations, so their dreams can come true,” Myla said.
She started folding cranes when her sister was in the hospital, “just to the pass time,” according to her mother. When Myla came up with the idea for her fundraiser, the family went into crane-making overdrive, to the point where donations of origami paper now appear unannounced at the front door of the family’s Ash Road home.
“She folds basically every day,” Nguyen said with a laugh. “Myla and I thought 2,002 cranes would be no problem. But in hindsight….”
To donate to 1001 Cranes, 1 Wish, mail or drop off a cheque (made out to Kairry Nguyen) at 1703 Ash Rd., Victoria B.C. V8N 2T7, or make an e-transfer to [email protected].
