Children's Miracle Network Day at the Rodeo Supports Local Children

While rodeo goers enjoyed the sights of barrel racing and mutton busting, Sunday fairgrounds visitors supported local children at Children's Miracle Network (CMN) Day at the rodeo.

Lindy Stone of CMN said, “It’s a great way that we get to honor our Miracle Kids.”

After the day’s mutton busting the 2013 group of Miracle Kids had the chance to ride around the arena in the back of a pick-up truck and wave to the audience in the stands.

“We do a bucket pass. About 70 volunteers with red buckets spread throughout the arena and pass these buckets around. If people wish, they can help donate money to Children’s Miracle Network,” Stone said.

The money collected for CMN at the rodeo directly benefits children’s programs at Shannon Medical Center in San Angelo.

Stone said,“Everything that is on our Children’s Miracle Network wish list is used to enhance the care for all the kids we help at Shannon--whether that is equipment or training personnel to make sure they have the top-notch skills to care for the kids.”

Chelby Caston, a former Miracle Kid, said she continues to support CMN because she doesn’t want others to have to go through what she did.

Caston remembers being at school when she was only 6-years-old and having a hard time breathing. When the school sent her to the doctor, Caston found out she had a collapsing lung. Caston was put in the hospital for two weeks while she struggled through a severe case of pneumonia.

“They did everything they could before I had to go,” she said. She was then sent to Cooks Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth for further care.

“I really don’t want anyone else to have to do that because it is really hard. My dad was working, my sister was a little baby and I was barely able to see her because she was staying down here,” Caston, who is now 12-years-old, said of the three weeks she spent at Cook’s.

Caston’s father, Harold Caston, said his family continues to stay involved with CMN after many years in order to help others, as well as for the sake of his own children.

“When she was sick in the hospital we had to go to Cook, but when we came back, some of the things they had bought we could have used and may have not had to gone to Cook.” he said. When we saw that, we thought...we would like to help other kids out and help raise money to buy the stuff so that they don’t have to be in the position we were in.”

Harold Caston said of his two daughters, “They are still young. At any time they could go back to the hospital, and if there is something that they don’t have, we might have to go off again. So any little bit that we can help to raise money to buy those things, then that is where we are going to be.”

For more information on how you can contribute to the Children’s Miracle Network visit cmnsanangelo.org.