STATE COLLEGE — When you wish upon a star …
For one State College family, a dream came true on Oct. 15 when Pixie Dust Wishes, a nonprofit that provides trips to Walt Disney World for children with disabilities, presented their 23rd award to Suzie Brown of State College.
Suzie’s parents are Aurelie Brown and David Brown.
In 2017, Jaimie Miller started her nonprofit in honor of her daughter Emma, who has Down syndrome. Since 2017, the organization, Pixie Dust Wishes, has awarded 22 trips to Disney World. Pixie Dust Wishes granted the 23rd — and most recent — trip to Suzie Brown and her family.
To begin the event, Executive Director and CEO of Pixie Dust Wishes Jaimie Miller thanked her board members and all the other organizations involved in the fundraising. Invited guests included Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins and State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff. Christine and Paul Eckert, parents of Ian, made the trip, as did John and Kate Coltabaugh, Eddie’s parents. Ian and Eddie and their families have traveled to Disney World on Pixie Dust Wish awards. Both Ian and Eddie passed away in 2022. Miller promised to always have Ian’s and Eddie’s pictures behind her at the awards presentations. Their pictures were prominently displayed. Miller also expressed appreciation to the many sponsors and to her daughter Georgiana Sutherland for her help and for her pictures from Georgiana Photography.
Suzie has Cohen syndrome, a rare genetic disease that causes severe progression of vision loss, low muscle tone and developmental delays. There are fewer than 1,000 cases in the world.
“There are so many nominations for the awards that it’s difficult to choose a recipient,” said Miller. “Stacy Craig, a paraprofessional in State College school system, nominated Suzie. Stacy wrote an extensive letter of praise for both Suzie and her parents regarding how they dealt with Suzie’s disability. Stacy’s letter just stood out, and my board and I knew we had our next recipient.”
Following the presentation, many costumed children began their Halloween walk. The day had turned a little milder by then and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves with some trick-or-treating.
