Montana Hope Project helps child, family beat the winter blues

Ruder Elementary fourth-grader Merrick Fairchild and her family were basking in the sun in Florida last week thanks to the Montana Hope Project.

Fairchild spent the better part of 2016 and some of 2017 battling stage four Burkitt lymphoma, an aggressive, but treatable form of cancer of the B cells. She kept touch with her classmates while being treated in Seattle through Facetime.

She is in full remission now and, last week, the Montana Hope Project fulfilled her wish to go to “Give the Kids the World Village” in Orlando. They’ll also go to other theme parks in the area.

According to its website, the Montana Hope Project began in 1984 when a handful of Montana Highway Patrol Officers reached out to a couple of kids with life-threatening illnesses. They dug into their own pockets, borrowed a van, and took the kids and their families on a trip to Glacier Park.

Today, the Montana Hope Project is a separate non-profit organization funded by tax-deductible charitable contributions. The Hope Project does not receive tax support and is not associated with any national wish-granting organization.

Sponsored by the Association of Montana Troopers, the Montana Hope Project originated from the strong desire of troopers to offer a special and unique service to the communities they served, noted trooper and local organizer Zach Miller.

Miller said the Project helps 20 to 30 kids in Montana annually and has reunions twice a year as well.

Miller and several other troopers surprised Fairchild when she came back into Connie Warner’s class after recess.

In addition to the trip, Fairchild was given a special stuffed animal and other gifts.

Fairchild’s classmates also got a treat from the troopers — cake and fruit juice.