It’s not just the number of origami cranes. It’s that each means the same thing.
More than 2,000 paper cranes hang from the hallway ceilings of St. Agnes School — large and small, in plain and designer paper of all colors. Each is folded precisely for Evan Hoffman, a St. Agnes seventh-grader who is fighting a rare form of cancer called rhabdomyosarcoma.
The crane project intersects with Catholic Schools Week, during which St. Agnes is holding a number of special events honoring veterans, emphasizing peace and character building and promoting religious vocation and literacy.
But the cranes have particularly energized St. Agnes. They also illustrate the unique connections among a school, church and community.
Evan, 12, has been battling cancer since the summer of 2008. After radiation, he was well enough to return to school last fall. But in December, the cancer returned, and he’s been out ever since. On Tuesday, he finished his fifth of six planned chemotherapy treatments at St. John’s Hospital.
‘Each crane is a prayer’
Nearly two weeks ago, St. Agnes principal Sister Joan Sorge asked her school to begin making cranes as a reminder to pray for Evan, citing Japanese tradition that anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes is granted a wish.
“We tried very hard to connect the children to Evan’s illness,” Sorge said Tuesday. “Each crane is a prayer — a way for us to be mindful that he needs our continual support.”
When she proposed the idea, Sorge didn’t know Evan was an origami fan. After learning this, she shared the fact with St. Agnes students over the school’s intercom. She said she could hear the gasps coming out of the classrooms all the way from her office.
“That’s a God connection,” Sorge said.
The school and other organizations have held fundraisers that have contributed nearly $50,000 to Evan’s fight. His parents, Jeff and Myra, who live near Athens, hope to use some of it to help others and to raise awareness about rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing cancer of the soft tissues of the body.
Evan’s cancer, behind his sinus cavity near the right side of his head, was detected after he developed excruciating headaches.
Evan recently gathered enough strength to visit the school and see the cranes.
“It’s very powerful,” Evan said at St. John’s Tuesday. “It’s a little bit — I don’t want to say embarrassing — but humbling. That this amazing number of people are thinking and praying about me.”
