Wow- This will defnitely brighten your day!

[Guest guest]

Kentucky Monthly Magazine's

" Kentuckian of the Year "

Faith of a child

      By Hervey, cover

story, Kentuckian Magazine.

www.kentuckymonthly.com/feature.html

      It’s just past six

o’clock when 11-year-old Michala Riggle plops down in a chair in

my

office. Her long strawberry-blonde hair hangs over her shoulders,

framing the rhinestone “Believe†pin she wears over her heart.

If

you are not a believer when you sit down with this child, chances

are you will be before you walk

away.

      It is already dark outside

the office of Kentucky Monthly and, knowing that Michala and her

parents, and Emlyn, have not stopped for dinner, I suggest we

eat before starting our interview. But Michala quickly reminds me

that it’s a school night and she’s here to talk business. Her

mom

smiles and I can see where Michala has inherited her

strength.

      The business that

brought this family to my office started just six months ago when

Michala, a fifth-grader at Jeffersontown Elementary, dropped a

change purse with $7 on the kitchen table in front of her

parents.

      The couple had been

discussing the experimental treatments for autism their 7-year-old

son, Evan, had been undergoing since February. Before receiving the

IV infusions of glutathione, Evan was combative and needed speech

therapy. Inspired by the improvements in Evan’s behavior since

beginning the treatments of glutathione, the Riggles hoped the

treatment would become available to other families with autistic

children. Unfortunately, beginning a controlled study would cost the

Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, where Evan received his

treatments, nearly $200,000.

     

Overhearing the conversation, Michala decided to do whatever she

could to see other children with autism benefit as her own brother

had. She scraped her allowance together and offered it to her

parents, saying, “I know it isn’t enough, but I hope it

helps. "

      She didn’t stop there.

Determined to raise the $200,000 needed to start the study, she

began beading bracelets, a skill she learned from a friend. “She

was

going door-to-door selling these little bracelets then coming in and

beading more. We thought what she was doing was sweet, but we never

imagined she would take it this far,†says

.

      Neither did Michala’s

9-year-old brother, Dawson, who was recruited to make bracelets for

the cause. “He told me there was no way we’d raise all that

money

selling the bracelets. I told him he had to think of it like a

baseball game—if you go in thinking you’re going to lose,

you’re

beat. You’ve got to believe,†says Michala. “So that’s my

motto:

you’ve got to believe. "

      Her $7

began to multiply, and everyone but Michala was surprised. “We

learned in Sunday school that Jesus was able to feed 5,000 people

with five loaves of bread and two fish that a little boy gave

him,â€

she says. “I’m kind of like that boy, I guess. I didn’t know

what

was going to happen, but I wanted to help.†As she speaks, I have

to

look up from my notebook to remind myself that these words are

coming from a freckle-faced 11-year-old sitting with one leg folded

underneath her.

      Within a few weeks

of telling her parents that she would raise the money, Michala

marched into the office of Dr. , Kosair medical

director, and proudly slid an envelope stuffed with $29, her first

donation, across his desk. “I immediately went over to our

foundation and said, ‘We’ve just started the Michala Riggle

Glutathione Research Fund, and here’s $29 to get it started,â€

says

.

      Michala first sold her

bracelets to neighbors and classmates, but her sales dramatically

increased after Kosair donated booth space at Jeffersontown’s

Gaslight Festival, a move that sparked the interest of the local

news stations.

      After the first

wave of media attention, Michala and her parents enlisted the help

of family and friends to prepare for the St. Court Art

Festival, where Kosair had donated another booth, hoping that the

recent news reports would bring a

crowd.

      For three days, Michala and

her “peeps,†as she calls them, took money and passed out

bracelets

to people eager to meet the little girl with such high hopes.

“There

was a line just to get into the tent,†says Emlyn. “It really

was

like the miracle of loaves and fish; we just kept reaching into the

bags and pulling out bracelets. I kept thinking that we were going

to run out, but that didn’t happen,†she says, smiling. That

weekend, Michala and her team raised nearly

$11,000.

      Michala’s infectious hope

started to spread. “People started donating bracelets that they

made

with their team or church group,†says . “We thought that

we

may get one or two donations like that, but it seems like we are

getting more everyday. It’s just incredible how people have opened

their hearts. "

      They also started

receiving invitations to appear at craft shows and festivals

throughout the state. “She never turned down an opportunity to

sell

the bracelets,†says Emlyn. That is, until they got an invitation

to

set up at an Expo in Brandenburg.

     

“She was supposed to go to the UofL vs. Pittsburgh game with her

dad

that day, so we told them we would set up the booth but Michala

wouldn’t be there. They were disappointed, but that game was so

important to Michala,†says Emlyn.

     

In a strange twist of fate, the person who was supposed to give

tickets to the game had forgotten and given them to someone

else.

      “She is a huge UofL fan, and

we had never had the opportunity to take her to a game before, so

she was really excited,†says . “She was sad for a few

minutes,

but then she perked up and said she’d just go sell her

bracelets. "

      Emlyn and Michala

packed the car and headed to Brandenburg early the next morning.

While at the expo, Michala met the trustees of the Ephraim and Wilma

Shaw Roseman Foundation, who were impressed by her passion. “They

said they were planning on donating $10,000, but I never expected

anything more than that,†says

Michala.

      Little did she know her

dream was about to become a reality. After their chance meeting with

Michala at the expo in Brandenburg, the trustees were inspired to

throw their weight behind Beading to Beat

Autism.

      “The trustees called us

and asked how much Michala had raised up until that point, and we

told them she was just sitting at $101,000,†says Buddeke,

the director of major gifts for the Children’s Hospital

Foundation.

“Then they asked us to set up a check presentation. They were so

impressed with Michala. "

      On Dec.

2, friends and family of Michala gathered at the check presentation

at Kosair. “We all knew how much the check was going to be, but

Dr.

wanted to make sure it was a surprise for Michala,†says

Emlyn. “He said that she had surprised him every week with a check

and that this was his opportunity to surprise

her. "

      When Michala pulled back the

brown paper on the check, revealing a few more zeros than she

expected—$100,000—her eyes filled with tears. “I was just so

excited,†she says. “I couldn’t have done it without all the

people

who helped me. I would have been beading in my sleep to raise the

money. "

      With the money raised by

Michala, physicians at Kosair plan to begin their study on

glutathione sometime this year. As for Michala, she has her eye on a

new goal. “We raised enough to get the program started, but now we

want to keep it going,†she says.

     

Within days of receiving the more than generous donation that helped

her reach her goal, Michala’s story aired on Good Morning America.

“The phone has been ringing off the hook,†says Emlyn. “We are

so

blessed, but this has all been kind of a

whirlwind. "

      Michala is flattered

by the attention. “I had to take a note to one of the third-grade

teachers the other day, and all of the students turned around in

their desk and started whispering,†she says. “You would have

thought I was Hannah Montana or

something. "

      This experience and

her natural philanthropic talents have changed Michala’s career

plans indefinitely. “I used to dream of playing for UofL, but I

think they’ve lost me now,†she says, grinning from ear to

ear.

      “We’ve all learned a lot from

this experience,†says Emlyn. “I’ve learned you can never

underestimate the dreams of a child, and I’ve learned through

raising a child with special needs that you just have to surrender

to God. "

      Michala also credits her

faith for her success. “Mom let me go to the grown-up service at

church one weekend and I heard Greg , the music leader at our

church, say that he thought he’d never be able to sing again after

having a surgery on his throat. He said he kept praying and telling

God that He needed him to be able to sing, but God told him that He

didn’t need Greg to sing—He chose him to sing. I feel the same

way,â€

she says. “God chose me to do

this. "

      I believe

her.

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