As we continue on towards Christmas Break, many students’ favorite time of the year at HHS has begun: the Hearts of Gold fundraiser. When we returned back to school after Thanksgiving break, the whole school was full of holiday spirit. All of the SBO’s spent the weekend decorating the school and getting excited for the event they have been preparing for all year. Hearts of Gold is the annual charity here at Herriman that has been going on since the school opened in 2010. Over the years, Hearts of Gold has raised one of the highest amounts for any high school for charity in Utah. Some of the past charities include bigger organizations like Make a Wish and last year’s Nixon Strong Foundation. In the process of earning money, students have so much fun and change so many people’s lives for the better. On the 29th during the opening assembly, this year’s charity was finally revealed after a long wait: the Now I Can Foundation.

Now I Can is a foundation that helps children with neuromuscular disorders learn to perform everyday motor tasks and strengthen both body and mind. This intense form of physical therapy has shaped the quality of life for so many young children and their families. With our help, they can continue to strive for their mission to help children with disabilities reach their full potential and greatest independence. For patients at Now I Can it’s common for children to make more progress in three weeks than they would in twelve months of traditional therapy. This intensive model of therapy originated in Poland where the founders, Tracey and Joel Christensen, took their young daughter Colby for treatment and were inspired by her progress to bring more effective therapy to Utah. 

To open the month-long festivities for Hearts of Gold, students attended an assembly announcing this year’s charity and giving students all the more reason to participate in the many activities that have already happened and that are coming up. To kickstart the assembly students were shown videos introducing some of the patients and their families, each with their own amazing stories. One of these patients was eight-year-old Liam Anderson who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and required help walking, standing, and just doing everyday things. But according to Liam’s parents, with the help of Now I Can’s treatments, he has now learned how to do many things better and even learned how to ride a bike. Now Liam, like many of their patients, is loving the freedom they helped give him.

Herriman also had the opportunity to hear from two of Now I Can’s participants and their parents at the assembly. They both expressed immense gratitude to HHS for choosing to help this cause. One patient named Layla, who suffers from a rare neuromuscular disease, and her mother, Veronica, spoke to us about their gratitude, best exemplified when she said, “we are grateful for your hearts of gold.” For participants like Layla these treatments truly help them live a better life. 

There are many different ways to get involved with Hearts of Gold and the school encourages students to help in any way they can. Whether that means helping out with odd jobs every day after school, running till you puke in the nog jog on the 15th, or sneaking up behind your friends to slap them with a slap bracelet in hopes of getting into the Slap That championship, everything and anything we do is helpful. 

To close the assembly, Zak Vigil, SBO Spirit, shared this quote by Denzel Washington explaining the real reason Hearts of Gold is such a big deal at Herriman: “At the end of the day, it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished… It’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” With this motivating message, he also encouraged Herriman to “ give (their) time and (their) energy to something that goes beyond (themselves).” Last year alone 145,496 thousand dollars were raised and the student body has already begun raising money with the hopes to contribute even more this year.