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CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Kendal Kirton, 9, signed a ceremonial check for $760 as Devyn Goo, 10, left, Shaylee Ungos, 9, and Kiyera Werny, 10, looked on at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center on Friday. The four Punahou School students are best friends and raised the money for breast cancer research through bake sales. The donations makes them the youngest known donors to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Dr. Jerris Hedges, dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine, indicated to Devyn Goo, 10, Kendal Kirton, 9, Shaylee Ungos (hidden), 9, and Kiyera Werny, 10, as to where to sign on a ceremonial donation check on Friday afternoon.
Four Punahou School fourth-graders donated $760 to the University of Hawaii Cancer Center on Friday, less than a year after one watched her aunt battle breast cancer.
“This definitely brought us closer together,” Kendall Kirton, one of the four friends, said.
Kirton, Shaylee Ungos, Devyn Goo, and Kiyera Werny raised the money by selling cookies, cake slices and other baked items.
The girls — the center’s youngest known donors — designated their $760 donation to fund breast cancer research.
When asked what they would do with the money if they hadn’t donated it to breast cancer research, they named other charitable causes such as diabetes research.
Goo’s great-grandmother is a 19-year survivor of breast cancer.
Werny’s aunt, Sandra Shim, has been cancer-free since last year. Shim had a double mastectomy.
While the diagnosis was scary for her niece, Shim said the girl maintained a helpful presence and made her knickknacks and while she underwent treatment.
Among the items Werny gave her aunt was a shell with the words “You are a fighter” written on it.
Shim said her treatment team was excellent, and that support from family and friends kept her positive, which helped her beat cancer.
Dr. Jerris Hedges, the center’s interim director, said each donation counts, and that the $760 the girls presented isn’t a small donation.
“Not enough credit is given to our young ones,” Shim said. “It doesn’t matter what the amount is, it’s just a great thing.”
