By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
Each year the members of the fifth-grade EarlyAct Club at Valley of Enchantment Elementary School vote on their service project in the community.
The club – sponsored by the Crestline-Lake Gregory Rotary Club – is run by the students, who elect their officers and run their meetings just like a Rotary Club meeting.
Last December, the students brainstormed ideas for their service project. Some of the ideas included reforesting Running Springs, helping the homeless with food and water, donating money to Mountains Community Hospital for books and puppets for hospitalized children.
But the idea that topped the vote was donating money to Noah Bard toward his heart transplant. The family will have to stay near the hospital down the hill for several months following Noah’s surgery.
The students invited Noah and his mother, Jennifer, to their meeting on Feb. 11 to tell them about their decision. Noah was all smiles as he entered Stephanie Plemons’ classroom, where the club meets. He quickly started introducing himself to all the students, giving hugs where they were requested.
“I was telling everybody I was going to be here,” Noah told the students.
He was greeted by Molly Jackson, the EarlyAct president, who told him, “When we heard about you, we wanted to help you.”
Ms. Plemons then invited Noah to add his name to the club’s sign-in sheet. “You’re one of us now,” she told him. The students then presented Noah with cards they had made for him.
Ms. Plemons had shown the club the video about Noah that is part of the GoFundMe account set up by Foxhound Productions to raise money for the family’s living expenses following Noah’s heart transplant. They are waiting for a donor heart.
Noah was diagnosed with Williams syndrome, a rare genetic disorder. It is characterized by several distinctive features including small stature, heart defects, excellent verbal memory and language skills and – no surprise to anyone who knows Noah – an extremely friendly and outgoing personality.
At just 3 months old, Noah had heart surgery to repair the holes in the heart he was born with. He had to undergo a second surgery to place a pacemaker. “He’s been battery operated ever since,” Jennifer says in the video.
Noah and some of the EarlyAct students out on the VOE playground. (Photo by Mary-Justine Lanyon)
Despite his challenges, he attended VOE Elementary School, where his mother was a noon duty, and graduated from Rim of the World High School in 2024. His goal, he told the EarlyAct students, is to be a school bus driver.
While at VOE on Feb. 11, Noah made sure to visit with the noon duties and lunch ladies he remembered from his days at the school.
After visiting with the EarlyAct club in the classroom, Noah suggested they all go to the playground, which they did. As Noah walked by, children called out, “Bye, Noah!”
The fifth-grade EarlyAct Club has already raised $300 and will continue to add to that amount the rest of the school year. Noah and Jennifer will return for the end-of-the-year ice cream party when the students will present them with a check.
“When somebody needs help, I would love to give them a hand,” Noah says on the video. He may be in need of a new heart but the one he has is filled with love for everyone he encounters.
To watch the video and make a donation to the fund, visit Gofund.me/09cff8cd.
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