Lenape High School sophomore Taylor Kane entered this school year with the goal of simply granting wishes.
To do so, Kane founded the Lenape High School Hero Club, an organization dedicated to helping people on the Hero Network, a website where people can ask for any wish, big or small.
“Last year, I really wanted to start a club at Lenape,” Kane said. “I saw that other schools in the area had it, too, so I talked to the principal about it.”
“I just feel like it’s so important because it shows students that anyone can be a hero,” she said.
The idea of the club was to grant wishes for children on the Hero Network, but so far they’ve spent a lot of time granting wishes for one of their own.
The club has also been the focal point for fundraisers involving Eric “Ebo” Eberling, a senior at Lenape who has bone cancer. Throughout the fall, Eberling and his family have been flying to Germany so he can receive treatment.
To help him pay for his medical expenses, the club started a fundraiser called “Bowl for Ebo.” The event was held at Laurel Lanes in Maple Shade on Nov. 24.
“There were probably like 30 people bowling, but a lot of people made donations,” Kane said. “We’ve had a lot of business sponsors.”
The bowling fundraiser wasn’t the only wish the Hero Club granted Eberling. When the club heard that Eberling was going to miss a Steve Aoki concert due to being in Germany for treatments, the club opened a wish on the Hero Network to get Eberling to meet Aoki in New York City.
Not only did the club meet its goal, but it got an unexpected surprise as well.
“Steve Aoki donated 14 VIP passes for Ebo and his friends,” Kane said.
Eberling and his friends got to meet Aoki as well as enjoy the concert. The money raised by the Hero Club paid for hotel accommodations, tips for a limo that was donated for the event and dinner.
Eberling has served as a rallying point for the Lenape High School community. Kane believed he was the perfect person for the Hero Club to help out in its first year.
“He’s really well known and he’s an outgoing kid,” she said. “Everyone sees him as an inspiration.”
Not all of the wishes the club grants are as large. Kane said one of the first fundraisers her club participated in didn’t involve raising money. It just required some resources and time.
“So far, we’ve granted three card wishes,” Kane said. “I just bring in some markers and stickers and people just make them.
“Our club has sent almost 100 handmade birthday cards for birthdays or the holidays.”
The Hero Network is full of these similar wishes. Kane said the club focuses on granting wishes specifically for children in need. This isn’t just about granting wishes for people from the area like Eberling, but also people from across the country.
The success of the Hero Club is in part due to its influence on social media. Kane maintains Facebook and Twitter pages for the club and is able to reach a larger audience to raise money.
“Basically, the whole point of the club is to get wishes granted through social media,” Kane said. “I wanted to start it since it’s the wave of the future in a way.”
The Lenape Hero Club had a page at heronetwork.com where they post wishes such as the fundraisers for Eberling. The club also posts updates on wishes and fundraisers on their Facebook page and Twitter account.
