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Sue Baltusis announces the results of the fundraiser to an assembly of Pullen students as student council representatives prepare to present a $256 check to Katie Otteman for the Kaitlin Kares Pediatric “Fun” Fund at McLaren Central Michigan.
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| Katie Otteman presents a Christmas gift, purchased with money from the Kaitlin Kares Pediatric “Fun” Fund, to 11-year-old Fancher Elementary student Amber Stadtfeld. Stadtfeld was admitted to McLaren Central Michigan for asthma complications from a sinus infection, and has since recovered. |
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Students and staff at Pullen Elementary School in Mt. Pleasant donated $256 to the Kaitlin Kares Pediatric “Fun” Fund at McLaren Central Michigan in November. The fund, which is dedicated to the purchase of Christmas gifts for sick children in the hospital during the holidays, was started by Pullen alumna Katie Otteman in December 2011 when she was eight years old.
Otteman, now age 9, started the fund using more than $400 in profits from her craft store, which she founded in August 2011. Inspired by the Disney television show “The Possibility Shop”, Otteman started “Katie’s Craft Store”, and within a month had made $57.19 through the sale of items she created using paper, popsicle sticks, wooden spools, yarn, and markers.
This fall, the Pullen Elementary student council invited Otteman to attend a meeting to explain her fund, which was then selected as the school-wide service learning project. Otteman provided each student representative with a report about her fund and a picture of herself. The picture and report were hung in each classroom so students could recognize her as a former student and learn about the fund.
Sue Baltusis, Otteman’s 3rd grade teacher and current Pullen student council advisor, said Pullen’s Service Learning group does several fundraisers each year to help students learn about giving to others.
“We decided this would be the kids’ first fundraiser of the year because we knew they could relate both to Katie as a former Pullen Panther, and to the kids they would be helping in the hospital,” Baltusis said.
The Service Learning student representatives announced the fundraiser to their classrooms and encouraged their classmates to bring in any amount of donations. Students brought in pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars, and many proudly explained to their teachers that they were giving their own money, which they’d earned.
After fundraising for four weeks, student council representatives presented the final check for the Kaitlin Kares Pediatric “Fun” Fund to Otteman at a school-wide assembly in November.
Otteman’s parents, Tim and Marcie, both Central Michigan University employees and active members in the community, say her idea to start a fund at McLaren Central Michigan likely came from observing her family’s involvement with the hospital through the years. Katie is the third generation of the Otteman family to support McLaren Central Michigan.
“I also believe she was just born with a giving spirit,” said Katie's father, Dr. Tim Otteman. “It was all her idea.”
Otteman intends to continue promoting her fund too, as indicated by her recent interview with Tina Sawyer on the air at My 104.3 WCZY-FM in Mt. Pleasant.
To contribute to the Kaitlin Kares Pediatric “Fun” Fund, contact the Hospital Foundation office at (989) 772-6858. Anyone interested in making a purchase from Katie’s Craft Store should contact her father, Dr. Tim Otteman, at (989) 621-2238 or ottem1tw@cmich.edu.
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