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Chase Smith

Staff Writer

Four young girls from East End Elementary in Middlesboro decided to take it upon themselves to raise money for the Cancer Foundation.

Grace Rose, 9, Mariah Collins, Madison Mason and Madison McClelland, all in the fourth grade. They came together to make duct tape crafts to sell at school to donate to the foundation. According to Grace’s mother, Shari Rose, the girls have been working on these crafts for nine weeks and have already made over $275.

What influenced the girls to start making the crafts was when Grace found out that Rhonda Haslam of Bluffton, S.C., was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and only had a few months to live.

Grace’s mother is a hairdresser in Cumberland Gap, Tenn., at Pizazz Salon.

Haslam said, “My mother goes to Pizazz to get her hair done and evidently Grace over heard my mother talking about my cancer situation.”

Grace and the girls then started to write Haslam letters saying that they are praying for her and they are so sorry that she has cancer. They keep her updated on the amount of money they have raised and send her duct tape crafts in the mail as well.

S. Rose said Grace comes home from school everyday and starts working on these crafts.

“She learns how to do it from watching videos online and getting new ideas,” she said.

Grace said currently she is making a duct tape wallet to sell.

“I was watching videos on youtube.com and it looked complicated, but I just kept trying and finally figured it out,” she said.

“My friends and I will be selling our duct tape crafts for a very long time to keep raising money for the cancer foundation,” said Grace.

Haslam said she was amazed at how these little girls came up with this idea on their own.

“I just got a letter in the mail from Grace and the girls and it included a duct tape bracelet as well. Little things like that just make my day,” adds Haslam.

According to Haslam, she is currently living two months longer than the doctors said she would when she was diagnosed in March.

She still has her independence and drives short distances to the grocery store. She is living each day to the fullest, thanking God for each day she is alive.

Chase Smith is a staff writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. She can be contacted at ksmith@heartlandpublications.com.