Cheerleaders Yell Out in Support of Ailing Squad Member

For 7-year-old Hanna Ackerman who is fighting a hard battle with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL,) there's a lot of support from her family and friends. As a member of the Jr. Knights cheerleading squad, the girl was honored in a special ceremony called "Cheer for Hanna" at last week's football game at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

The Jr. Knights together with Jr. Warriors form the New Lenox Youth Football Association. Cheer Director Jill Fox said that Ackerman, who had just joined the squad before her ALL diagnosis, hadn't a chance to cheer at a game.

But her uniform had been ordered. It came in, and Fox together with fellow cheer directors, Krissi Olsen and Sue Thorpe, thought of away to help the girl and her family. As mothers themselves, Fox said she and the other cheer directors recognized that it was important for the 2nd-grader to know and understand that she was a member of a team. The team spirit spreads beyond the football field.

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So in typical cheerleading style, the cheer directors put together a plan that would generate smiles, support and funds to assist the Ackerman's with the expense of medical care for Hanna. Fox and the others created more than 300 hand-made "cheer bows" to sell at the game.

Since orange is the color for that the childhood leukemia organization has selected to highlight its promotions, Fox said the group agreed to mirror that color brand.

It took about 30 hours to create 300 bows—the kind that the girls normally wear in their hair when cheering, said Fox.  Each of the NLYFA cheerleaders donned an orange bow in honor of Hanna. "Krissi, Sue and I spent all week making" the bows.

All total, they collected about $2,100 for the Ackerman Family, she said. The "Cheer for Hanna Day" worked particularly well, since September is designated as Childhood Leukemia month.  

"I'm happy to report" that there was 100 percent participation from the cheer families and "quite a few football families too," Fox said.

Hanna has an older sister, 9-year-old Hayley, who cheers on the Jr. Knights squad. Hanna has managed to attend some of sister's games. However, Fox described the day set aside for Hanna as special because she felt strong enough to attend that game too. She wore her uniform and posed for pictures.

Readers might like to read this story in the Southtown Star.