Isabel Pridgen

In lieu of a Childhood Cancer Awareness Walk this year, Isabel Pridgen Charities will sell a custom holiday ornament. Ornaments will be available for purchase at Dalton High School, Pine Needle, Raspberry Row and Grace 251 beginning today.

Dalton High School art teacher Trevor Ledford donated his time and talent to design the ornaments picturing the paper crane, a symbol that has now become the trademark of Isabel Pridgen Charities.

Isabel’s mother and Westwood School Assistant Principal Marla Pridgen explained that when Isabel was in Ric Murray’s social studies class at Dalton Middle School, the students read “Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes.” The story details the life of a young Japanese girl, Sadako, who was 2 when the atomic bomb was dropped on her town of Hiroshima. At the age of 12, Sadako was diagnosed with leukemia and her friends shares an old Japanese legend that says anyone who folds 1000 paper cranes will receive a wish. Sadako and her friends begin the task of making the cranes in hopes of having her wish to live granted.

Isabel and her best friend enjoyed learning about Asian culture. In 2014, when Isabel was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia, her friends and loved ones brought in more than 1,000 paper cranes to the hospital to show their support for Isabel and her family. Marla Pridgen began hanging them up all over the hospital, and they even made their way to the Ronald McDonald House. Though Isabel lost her battle with cancer, the paper crane became symbolic of her fight and is a way to honor Isabel’s memory. The symbol will be included on all future designs.

“Trevor was so sweet to do this for us. We are so appreciative of him,” Marla Pridgen said. “We would like to keep doing the ornaments every year, hoping this will be something people look forward to getting. And since they will be dated, they can look back and see the ornament for each year.”

Proceeds from the ornaments go to Isabel Pridgen Charities, which provides college scholarships and help to children in the hospital. The Pridgen family started the charity as a way to give back to the community who supported them tremendously during their tough time.

To order an ornament, visit one of the stores mentioned above, or contact Gayla Deviney at Dalton High School to place an order before Wednesday, Nov. 8. Ledford will sign the ornaments at Cyra’s in downtown Dalton on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m.