Spirit of Children presented a check worth just over $87,000 to Shriners Children’s Erie on Thursday at the 8th Street location.

The non-profit raises money through partnerships with local retailers and community donations.

Shriners officials said the money will help support patient services and specialized programs for children receiving treatment.

Michelle Derooy is a child life specialist for Shriners. She said the donation will be used to help children feel more comfortable in their care.

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“This donation allows us to do so many things that we may not have been able to do, and just spoil our kids. That’s the best part about this job is we get to spoil all our kids,” Derooy said.

All donations were taken by Spirit of Children, which is a nonprofit program created by Spirit Halloween

Ashley Best, one of the zone managers for Spirit of Children, said they take donations as soon as the store opens.

“So we start as soon as the store opens, we are taking donations, you can buy bracelets, you can donate any amount in store that you’d like, and a hundred percent of it goes to Child Life Department,” Best said.

Last year’s donation raised just over $60,000. This year, an additional $27,000 was added because of Spirit Christmas being added, giving people more time to donate.

Shriners Children’s Erie said the funds raised locally will stay local, directly supporting young patients and their families.

If you would like to help, you can take part next Tuesday in a telethon hosted by JET 24, with proceeds going to Shriners Children’s Erie.

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