4-H'ers get creative to help Children's Miracle Network

4-H'ers Jordan Roder, Chantel Cockburn and Ericka Cockburn decorate a tree with paper snowmen they sold to raise money for the Children's Miracle Network after being inspired by the organization's motto -- "Kids helping kids." The tree was featured at the Pioneer Village Christmas at the Plymouth County Fairgrounds. [Click to enlarge]

They don't have full-time jobs.

But this group of 11 kids refused to believe that because of their age, they couldn't make a difference.

The Plymouth Pros 4-H Club raised more than $500 for the Children's Miracle Network by selling paper snowmen for a donation and using those snowmen to decorate a tree at the Pioneer Village Christmas this year.

"We don't know how many snowmen we sold, but we sold $516 worth," said club member Ericka Cockburn, 10, of Le Mars.

This isn't the first time the club has worked to help an area organization. Last year they tied fleece blankets for the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence for victims of abuse.

They chose to help Children's Miracle Network (CMN) this year after the organization's motto caught their attention.

"Their saying is 'Kids helping kids,' so we thought, 'Why not?'" Chantel Cockburn, 12, of Le Mars said.

"When we got to sell the snowmen, a lot of people just wanted to help, and a lot were kids," Ericka said.

They met people whose children were helped by CMN.

"It was sad to hear their life story," said Madison Wright, 11, of Merrill.

"But it was happy to hear how they got help," Chantel added.

Kelli Susenmihl, 9, of Merrill, said her favorite part of the project was seeing the decorated tree -- a white tree designed to look like a giant cone-shaped snowman -- when it was done.

"It was so covered with snowman you could barely see the (big) snowman's eyes," Susenmihl grinned.

Last weekend, they handed a big check to Megan Meyer, the CMN coordinator from Sioux City.

"Their project was one of the most unique projects I've seen in a long, long time," Meyer said. "Kudos to them for having a grassroots project and really getting the message out to people like crazy."

The money raised will help CMN's efforts of enhancing health care at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center in Sioux City.

"It can help babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or help diabetes education for children. And it can be used for the family assistance program," Meyer said.

That program helps families with lodging, travel expenses, or other things not covered by insurance. Families must apply for this assistance through CMN.

The CMN coordinator said she was especially excited about this project since she was in 4-H as a kid.

"It had a special place for me," Meyer said. "It was great to see pictures of their fundraiser. It was just out of the box."

"It was fun," said Mikayla Stone, 11, of Le Mars. "I liked how it was kids helping kids."