Glenbard North community to pitch in for brother's fundraiser in memory of Gavin Sharkey

CAROL STREAM – Glenbard North teacher Stasie Brogan is helping coordinate a charity event May 6 with Glenbard North and Lake Park high schools in memory of her young nephew, Gavin Sharkey. His 10-year-old brother, Brody Sharkey, inspired the LemonAide fundraiser in gratitude for the support shown his little brother by the community and Chive Charities.

The fundraiser will take place at the May 6 baseball game between the two rival teams. When he's older, Brody will attend Glenbard North.

While Gavin fought a rare brain disorder, Chive Charities, which champions orphaned causes and helps families out directly, provided the Sharkey family with a new accessible van for them and the news that their members had read their story and sprung into action raising $55,000 for the family through crowd sourcing, according to the news release.

"I want to give back to the Chive for what they did for me and my brother," Brody told the director of Chive Charities after his brother's death last fall, the release stated. "I want to have a lemonade stand and give all the money to Chive Charities to help more kids like my brother Gavin."

With the support of the Lake Park Lancers, Glenbard North Panthers, Schaumburg Boomers and Chive Charities, event organizers have come up with a way to help Brody’s LemonAide project make an impact at the high school baseball game beginning at 7 p.m. at the Schaumburg Boomers stadium (www.boomersbaseball.com).

Brody, along with help from volunteers and the local Chive chapter, Chive on Chicago, will have LemonAide stands throughout the stadium for drink sales during the game. The Boomers organization graciously will shut down their beverage operations for the game so that the only beverage sales will come from the LemonAide stands, according to the release.

In addition to those sales, the campaign will sell T-shirts before, during and after the game to generate more dollars towards Brody’s goal. Ticket sales the day of the game also will count towards the total donation.

Brogan and the Sharkey family shared the story about giving from so many, including Gavin, whose "final act was to bring sight and give life to four people. In that moment, he had helped to change the world for four strangers."