Crooks Christmas Raises Over $16,000

A Christmas lights display featured on the CBS Early Show and right here on KELOLAND News is now lighting up the lives of three children.

Friday afternoon Joe Noe and his family, who live in Crooks, gave the Make-A-Wish Foundation an impressive donation. Even the Noe family was surprised by the size of the check.

Joe Noe and his family found out first hand what lights and music can do during the Christmas season. On Thanksgiving, they turned on their lights and put out a donation box. Their goal was raise five thousand dollars to make one child’s wish come true.

Noe says, “Realistically I really didn’t think we would make it…I thought maybe we can make one thousand or fifteen hundred and help one along.”

But Friday all of the hard work that went into the Crook’s light display paid off to the tune of more than 16-thousand dollars as Noe and his family presented a check to the South Dakota Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Noe says, “I just put on a light show and everybody else came out to see it and it’s not my money it’s their money so I look forward to see what happens with it.”

President and CEO of Make-A-Wish Mary Olinger says, “This was probably the biggest Christmas gift we’ve had in a long time.”

And just like the display, the timing couldn’t have been much better.

Olinger says, “Normally during the winter months we don’t have a big fundraising events at all and when joe came into see us we said sure we’ll do something not even knowing or anticipating that this would be as huge as it is.”

And even eleven months out.. Noe hopes next year’s gift will be even better.

Noe says, “I don’t know how you can start something like this and just stop. If anybody else was out shopping for Christmas lights after Christmas you probably saw me there too loading cases into the cart.”

Noe and the Make-A-Wish Foundation are sitting down Friday afternoon to decide what kinds of wishes the family would like to make come true. Whether it’s a trip to Disney World or a celebrity wish, there’s no doubt he made a lot of children smile over the holiday season..