Tricky Tray Answers Two Dreams!

The Smith Family held their 9th Annual Tricky Tray for the Sunshine Foundation fundraising event on August 29th at the VFW Post 2540 in East Stroudsburg, PA. All money raised at this event directly benefits the Sunshine Foundation based in Southampton, PA. This year’s Tricky Tray event is making two Dreams Come True.

Jonet is 18 years old, diagnosed with Down syndrome, and dreams of a family trip to the beach. She told us: “I would love to take a vacation to the beach. I haven’t seen the ocean in 5 years, and we only stayed for a few hours. This trip would be the biggest blessing to me. It would be a true vacation.”

Zayden is 11 years old, diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis, and dreams for a Playstation 5. Zayden’s mom says: “Zayden is seriously one of the toughest and bravest kids I know! No matter what he has been through, he’s constantly smiling, acting silly and keeping a smile on all of our faces!”

The Tricky Tray event was started by Dylan Smith and his family in 2013 and has raised enough funds to answer 11 dreams of children served by the Sunshine Foundation so far. Dylan has been diagnosed with Chiari Malformation, Craniocervical Instability, Dysautonomia with POTS, Auditory Processing Disorder, and Infa-Optic Origin of the ACA. Dylan had his dream answered to visit Disney World by the Sunshine Foundation in 2013 and has paid it forward every year since.

Dylan’s mom, Dana shared: “Our trip to Florida was magical. It was the first time in a long time that we saw all of my children with genuine smiles. They were no forced smiles or the ones you put on for photos, but ones of pure joy. And I don’t think we ever saw our son ever smile as much as we did on that trip. Most people are lucky enough to not know what it’s like to have a chronically ill child. The lives of families like ours are constant doctor visits, hospital visits, surgeries, and tests. Chronic illness in children affects the entire family. However, the Sunshine Foundation is the only wish-granting organization that acknowledges this. After our trip, we realized what a true gift this was. We decided we wanted to pay it forward to another family that needed the hope that we were given.”