Smiling at a customer as she rings up a colorful handmade card, Sawyer Jewelers co-owner Mary Ann Beltinck, tells the story behind the detailed, cheerful cards on display in the store. The cards are sold in memory of Katie Wyatt, a 14 year old Fenton student who passed away from kidney cancer in 2011.
“Theresa VanAvery and I make the cards year-round,” Beltinck said. “We have seasonal and general styles which we sell for $5 each, both in the store and on our online Etsy store, CrystalEffects. All of the profits go to the Katie Wyatt Memorial Foundation, and each card comes with a note inside explaining its purpose.”
Wyatt was a student at Andrew G. Schmidt Middle School who was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma when she was 11 years old. When she received her final diagnosis, the Fenton community pulled together through fund-raising.
“The ideas started with the kids,” Beltinck said. “Her friends talked about how they had to do something, and we did. AGS hosted Katie’s Game, and we thought of other ways to fund-raise. In addition to cards, we sell Katie necklaces, bracelets and beads.”
Friends of Wyatt support and are grateful for the fund-raising efforts still taking place.
“Selling the cards is really important, especially now because it’s been awhile since Katie passed away,” junior Julia Johnson said. “It’s important that people remember her and try to help other kids in the area.”
The impact Wyatt’s foundation makes continues to be visible throughout the community.
“The Katie Wyatt Memorial Foundation grants wishes to local children with cancer,” Beltinck said. “Katie Wyatt , Jesse Hourigan and Tamara Johnson are all our wish children. We also send kids to band camp, picking up the extra cost parents cannot cover and we have a scholarship for Katie’s graduating class.”
It is important to Sawyer Jewelers to stay connected to their community, state and country.
“We make all our cards with Stamp-it-Up products, which is a women-owned U.S. company,” Beltinck said. “The local university beads we sell are made in Michigan, and the Fenton beads we sell boost the marching band half the year and the football team the other half.”
There are many ways students can follow Beltinck’s lead and give back to their community during the holiday season. In addition to purchasing from Sawyer’s, students can bring gifts for the Angel Tree or nonperishable food items for the food drive, donate blood at the blood drive in January, volunteer to ring bells for the Salvation Army or find their own cause.
“It starts with you,” Beltinck said. “It started with Katie’s friends for Katie, and it can start with you now. If you have an idea and something you want to support, there will be adults willing to facilitate the process.”