JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. — One bead, one bracelet at a time, Cami Mattox has raised more than $5,000 for her grandparents' nonprofit, Danny's Boys and Shirley's Girls, a group that builds sanitary toilet systems for schools in Tanzania.
"I kind of knew what it was like to be sick and everything," Cami said. "I wanted to give them a good life, too."
Born with Hirschsprung's disease, a condition that affects the colon, the 11-year-old has had more surgeries than birthdays, learned to live with an ileostomy bag, and recently fought an infection while spending several weeks at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.
"There's times when she's been homebound and she hasn't been able to be a normal kid," said Paige Mattox, Cami's mother. "Cami is one of the strongest people I know."
When Cami made $13 selling bracelets at the end of her driveway this past summer, she saw a chance to do something big with the beads. In the months since then, she's raised thousands for Danny's Boys and Shirley's Girls, selling the bracelets at craft shows and stores, including The Little Dipper in Jamestown Township.
"I decided to go bigger and try to make more and more and sell more and more and just get more money for them," said Cami, who, due to her condition, can relate to wanting a clean bathroom.
A sanitary toilet system typically costs around $10,000 to build, according to Danny's Boys and Shirley's Girls. When Cami meets that mark, she'd like to travel to Tanzania to see it installed.
"I just think even a small person could change stuff one step at a time," she said.
