Group of 11-year-olds raises almost $20K to build house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Hogs for the Cause is on a mission to build a free housing facility for families who are undergoing treatments at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.

One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake... — One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.(WAFB)

No matter how young or small, a difference can be made. That’s what one 11-year-old group is saying as they participate with “Hogs for the Cause.”

“So, we all know what it’s like to worry and the parents don’t need to worry about like sleeping in their car or finding a place or a hotel to stay in,” said LeMoine Shoriak.

One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake... — One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.(WAFB)

LeMoine and her group called the “Baconaters” have spent the past month raising money to build a free housing facility for families that have children receiving treatment at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital. This one group raised almost $20,000 alone.

“The importance for this Hogs house is like to help and it’s all free. So, they can just worry about their kid getting the surgery, they don’t need to worry about anything else,” added Shoriak.

One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake... — One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.(WAFB)

The group of girls put on basketball competitions in their neighborhoods and did lemonade stands hoping to make a difference for families who are going through the unthinkable.

“We can do anything, it’s not all adults like we can help the world too,” said McKinley Mahon, who is also a part of the Baconaters.

One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake... — One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.(WAFB)

The Baconaters are like several other children groups in the Baton Rouge area coming up with fundraising strategies to build a home for the families. In all, they have raised over $90,000 so far.

“So, you are just a few steps away from your child, which I think gives a lot of families a certain level of comfort knowing that they are just around the corner, and they can easily access their child regardless of their options for transportation,” explained Katie Bliss, who is the director of development for Hogs for the Cause.

One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake... — One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.(WAFB)

Today, for the kids, it’s all about celebrating their accomplishments and looking ahead to start preparing for their next fundraising events.

“Just being together and like helping people just makes you feel good,” added Mahon.

One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake... — One 11-year-old group raises almost $20,000 to build a house facility for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital.(WAFB)

Hogs for the Cause still needs help with raising money for their Hogs House on OLOL’s campus. If you are interested you can head over to their website for more details.

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