Hope’s Wish: How One Girl’s Dream Made Others Come True
By Stewart and Shelby Stout
When Hope Stout was diagnosed with bone cancer at age 12, her parents prayed for a miracle. A miracle occurred, but not quite in the way anyone expected. Instead, Hope asked for something impossible: that one million dollars be raised in one month to fund the wishes of ALL 155 children on the Make-A-Wish Foundation list for Central and Western North Carolina.
Hope didn’t live to see her wish fulfilled, but donations began to pour in. Children brought in contents of their piggy banks; older kids donated babysitting money; a homeless man in Charlotte gave what little he had. On the night of the gala, $1,116,000 had been raised and money was still coming in.
Shelby and Stuart Stout were inspired to write Hope’s Wish after compiling a journal of the brief 191 days from Hope’s diagnosis to her death. Their heartfelt story includes the times they were angry and desperate, as well as the times when Hope’s humor and spirit shone through.