Big Island girl Melodee (last name withheld) has dreamed of traveling to the magical world of Disney to meet her favorite Disney characters.<\/p>\n
And while she dreams of becoming a princess for one day, she also patiently waits for a heart transplant.<\/p>\n
Sixteen-year-old Leilehua High School student Mikaela “Miki” Armstrong, along with nonprofit Make-A-Wish Hawaii, hopes to raise enough funds to send Melodee and her family to Disney World.<\/p>\n
Make-A-Wish has impacted Armstrong in many ways, as well, as she has had a lot of friends who have had cancer or are currently battling it.<\/p>\n
“Since it affected so many of my friends, it’s a good way to give back,” Armstrong explained. She recalled that Make-A-Wish sent one of her friends to Italy one summer, and another friend was able to travel to Hawaii.<\/p>\n
The Celebration of Hope benefit took place Nov. 18 at Sunset Ranch on the North Shore, and 100 percent of the proceeds went to support the family’s trip.<\/p>\n
Area residents in attendance got their faces painted and fed the horses. Crowds also enjoyed a live demonstration of equine-assisted therapy put on by H.E.A.R.T. (Hawaii Equine Assisted Reflection & Therapy).<\/p>\n
Armstrong is excited to see Melodee happy. “I want to give her a brighter outlook on what’s she’s going through,” she said.<\/p>\n
For more information on H.E.A.R.T., go to hearthorses.com, and for more details on what Armtrong does with Make-A-Wish Hawaii, email mikis.walk.for.wish-es@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Big Island girl Melodee (last name withheld) has dreamed of traveling to the magical world of Disney to meet her..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":15101,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-central","category-central-oahu-coverstory"],"yoast_head":"\n