Name: Blessing Foundation
Address: Oak Street, Quincy,, IL, 62305-7005
Telephone: 217.223.8400, ext. 4800

Clare and Mia

What do lemons and a car crash have in common?

Read on to learn how the stories of Clare and Mia intertwine through the Blessing Foundation.

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Eight-year-old Clare Conrad just wanted to help children

Profits from her lemonade stand went to the Blessing Foundation to help families in a medical crisis – like Mia Blaesing’s family

Ashley Conrad knew her daughter, Clare, had a heart of gold. But to watch her organize a lemonade stand and insist the money go to sick children was inspiring.

“She’s got a huge heart. I’ve always known she’s a sweetheart, but for her to follow through was awesome,” Ashley said.

Clare raised $356 – and 100 percent went to the Merrick Family Medical Crisis Fund, one of the many funds set up through the Blessing Foundation for a specific purpose. That fund serves as a financial resource for families of Blessing Hospital neonatal and pediatric patients in need of specialized care at another hospital, providing families with cash for lodging, transportation, and food.

“I like all the money I raised because it went to help parents with their gas money so that they could get to their children in the hospital that need help so they’re not all alone,” Clare said.

Meet the Blaesings

Jim and Jennifer Blaesing of Mount Sterling know first-hand how donations to the Merrick Fund – like the money raised by Clare’s lemonade stand – help families.

It was Oct. 12, 2017, and their 16-year-old son, Logan, was driving his 12-year-old sister, Mia, home from school because Jennifer was at work in Rushville and Jim had their other daughter, Alexa, at an orthodontist’s appointment in Quincy.

Logan’s car was stopped on U.S. 24, his turn signal on, waiting to turn onto the road to their subdivision when a tractor-trailer hit the car from behind at full speed. The car was pushed into oncoming traffic, and a small pickup truck hit the passenger’s side.

When Jennifer arrived on the scene, she watched helplessly as emergency personnel worked to extricate Mia from the car.

“I wanted to talk to her, hold her hand and tell her it was going to be OK,” Jennifer recalls.

Photo Credit: WGEM

Mia and Logan hold hands in the Blessing ER right before she was airlifted to Cardinal Glennon

Mia and Logan with the man who was in the small pickup involved in the accident; he brought food and a Dr. Pepper for Mia at the hospital and kept in constant contact with Jennifer while Mia was in the hospital.

‘It was a sense of relief’

Mia was airlifted to Blessing, where the family was told that the severity of her injuries required her to be transported to a hospital with a pediatric intensive care unit.

Mia was taken by ambulance to Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. Logan had a concussion and was going to be OK, but he needed to stay at Blessing overnight for observation.

The Blaesings had to decide who was going to stay with Logan and who was going to be with Mia.

“As a mom, that’s really hard. You want to comfort them both,” Jennifer said.

They decided it was best for Jennifer to make the 136-mile trip to be with Mia. That’s when a nurse came into the ER to provide cash from the Blessing Foundation to help with food and gas money. Jennifer initially declined, but the nurse insisted.

“It was a sense of relief,” Jennifer said. “I was so touched. Blessing is giving me money even though I’m not going to be at their facility – that gesture just showed me how much donors to Blessing cared.”

Mia spent a week at Cardinal Glennon and was treated for multiple fractures and internal injuries. She endured surgery to her jaw while in the hospital and returned a week and a half later for surgery on her right shoulder.

Now almost a year later, Mia is back to her active lifestyle, including bringing home some hardware from taekwando and trampoline competitions.

“She’s a go-getter,” Jennifer said. “Mia is my warrior princess.”

When Jennifer thinks back to that terrible day a year ago - and about what the Blessing Foundation does for families during a time of crisis - she extends a heartfelt thank you to donors.

That includes a sweet little 8-year-old girl with a lemonade stand.

Mia receives her state champ lettered jacket in weapons for 2018 – she rallied back from her injuries to win the title

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