Tuesday March 19th, 2024 4:50AM

Girl's dying wish inspires teen entrepreneur

By The Associated Press
<p>Hope Stout was a happy 12-year-old, smiling even after all her red hair fell out, her blue eyes still bright even as bone cancer ravaged her body.</p><p>Until she drew her last breath, she believed God would heal her. So even though she wanted to be a movie star, she said her dream could wait until she got better, her father remembered.</p><p>"That's the kind of kid she was," Stuart Stout said.</p><p>She had already been to Walt Disney World and Cancun when the Make-A-Wish Foundation heard her story and offered to grant her a wish. Hope wondered: How many other terminally ill children in her hometown of Weddington, N.C., and nearby Charlotte were waiting on their wishes?</p><p>When she heard the answer _ 155 _ she knew what she wanted. She asked that the wishes of all those children be granted.</p><p>Hope got her wish, but did not live to see it realized.</p><p>When she died Jan. 4, 2004, almost $500,000 had been raised to grant the wishes of those 155 children. That amount grew to more than $1 million just two weeks later, following the first Celebration of Hope fundraising gala held in Charlotte in honor of the girl.</p><p>Then, six months later, Ali Spizman of Sandy Springs heard of Hope's selfless act from the Make-A-Wish Foundation after researching charities to which she could donate part of the proceeds from a line of handbags that she was designing.</p><p>"She wanted to be famous, she wanted the world to know her," said Spizman, now a 19-year-old freshman at Indiana University. "That's where I come in."</p><p>After talking to Hope's family, Spizman got their blessing to create the Handbags of Hope, which debuted exclusively this spring at national accessories stores Icing by Claire's and Claire's Boutique _ one of Hope's favorite stores.</p><p>Each one features Hope's colorful artwork and whimsical handwriting, her name surrounded by stars _ a pattern her mother, Shelby, found in Hope's room after she died. Hope's oldest sister, 19-year-old Austin, also helped design part of the bags.</p><p>"This is exactly what Hope Stout would've wanted," her mother, Shelby Stout said. "It was like this kid actually is still working from heaven and designing her own stuff. I'm sure she'd have just been so proud of that."</p><p>Like their namesake, the bags are bright and creative. They come slim, square or as a backpack. Small or medium wallets are sold separately. The bags range in price from $8 to $18, 10 percent of which goes to Make-A-Wish.</p><p>"You're carrying a cause," Spizman said in reference to each handbag that's sold.</p><p>The last of the 155 children from Hope's area, a 4-year-old cancer patient named Emma, had her wish granted in November 2004. The money raised from the handbags now goes toward the Make-A-Wish's general fund.</p><p>The Stouts, Ali Spizman and her parents continue to work together in Hope's name, and the Stouts are writing a book about the girl. The Stout family said it was honored that Spizman took up Hope's private wish.</p><p>"What she honestly tried to do was to do this for Hope, to make sure Hope's name got out there," Shelby Stout said. "We were very honored that she would do that for our Hope, even though she had never met her."</p><p>Spizman plans to pursue a major in telecommunications, but said philanthropy will always be part of her life.</p><p>"I've always donated clothes and toys. I've always tried to help out people," she said. "This has been an amazing experience."</p><p>_____</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cde91c)</p><p>HASH(0x1cde9c4)</p>
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