Article from Times Leader

There was an article about Sarah in yesterday's Times Leader.

I'm sure that Steve Mocarsky and the paper won't mind if we reprint it here, so you'll find it below.

Also, theres' an entry from December 1 that wasn't posted here. I just posted it, so scroll back to December 1 if you want to read it.
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From December 11 Times Leader
Helping an injured friend
Two thousand dollars has been raised in past week to help Sarah Godfrey, a St. Boniface student hit by a car.
By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – Friends of 14-year-old Sarah Godfrey, who was struck by a car last month on Hazle Avenue, raised about $2,000 to help the girl’s family last week, culminating with a basket raffle on Sunday.

Sarah’s recovery will be long and difficult, and her supporters say donations are still being accepted.

“It’s like a climb up Mt. Everest,” Nikki Johnson, one of Sarah’s close friends and classmates, said Sunday when describing her friend’s recovery.

Sarah was dropped off from school on Nov. 17 when she exited a car, tried to cross the street and was struck by a car driven by Michelle Doyle of Ashley. Sarah was flown to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where she continues to receive treatment for severe head injuries.

Patti Zak, a family friend, said the raffle proceeds will help with Sarah’s medical bills. They will also help Sarah’s parents, Brigid and Mark, to afford to miss some work so they can spend more time at the hospital with their daughter, said Rebecca Johnson, another family friend.

Zak, Johnson and Lorrie Griffiths coordinated the fundraiser. Their daughters are all officers of the St. Boniface Elementary School Student Council, of which Sarah is president.

Their daughters – Carly Zak, Nikki Johnson and Sarah Griffiths – led the drive to sell tickets for the basket raffle at their school during the week.

The fundraiser was opened to the public on Saturday and Sunday at the school hall, where about 50 baskets full of items such as candles, picture frames, lottery tickets, candy, coffees and toys, were on display. The holiday-themed baskets were donated by families of students, teachers and one business – radio station WKRZ 98.5-FM.

Describing her injured friend, Nikki said Sarah is “lovable, funny, smart, extravagant, thoughtful … I can’t think of anything else. I’m going to start crying.”

Carly said Sarah is “always there for you. She always listens to you and always wants to work things out. We call her ‘the therapist.’ ”

Now that Sarah is the one needing help, the girls rallied to her support.

“She’d be happy people would care this much about her,” Sarah Griffiths said.

According to a Web site set up by Sarah Godfrey’s uncle, the most recent posting, from Thursday, described her condition as slowly improving.

Patti Zak said Sarah’s parents are “overwhelmed with the pouring out of people being so generous.”