6 Year Old Raises Money To Help Sick Friend

I love being around children.  They say the cutest things and appreciate things that us adults seem to forget.  But most of all, they love unconditionally.  Their love is pure and generous.  A 6 year old boy made it his mission to raise money to help his sick friend get the help he needs.

We often go through life in a rush.  It sometimes takes a small gesture to help us sit back and enjoy everything we have right in front of our eyes.  The story of two friends hit the internet recently and made me realize that life is precious and we should cherish each minute of each day.

Jonah Pournazarian, 7, has the best friend anyone could ask for, 6 year old Dylan Siegel.  You see when Jonah was a baby he was diagnosed with a rare liver disease known as Glycogen Storage Disease type 1b.  This disease is so rare that it only affects one in a million.  And the worst part is that there is no cure.  Many have never even heard of it.

Dylan decided he wanted to help his friend.  So he went to his parents and told them his plan to raise money for research to help his friend get better.  They suggested the common thing like a lemonade stand, but Dylan was thinking on a bigger level.  He wanted to write a book and donate all the profits to research on this disease.

So that's just what he did.  He wrote a 16-page book titled "Chocolate Bar."  He uses the term "chocolate bar" to uses to mean “cool."  The book begins by saying “Disneyland is so chocolate bar.”  It works just as good as any other word, right?  The best part of the book is the ending, “I like to help my friends. That is the biggest chocolate bar.”

Dylan's goal is for the book to raise $1 million.  All the money from the book and a fund set up by Jonah's parents have been sent to the University of Florida School of Medicine in Gainsville where research is taking place under Dr. David Weinstein.

So far the book as raised over $30,000.  It's amazing to see what friendship has done to bring light to a disease that nobody really knows about.  Dylan is one enormous chocolate bar!

If you would like to help by purchasing the book, you can buy online here.