SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — Turning heartbreak into happiness. That's what one star student in Sheboygan is doing for her senior project.
Cheyenne Stirdivant, 17, has had a tough year.
"It was my grandpa the Sunday after Thanksgiving and my dad the morning of Christmas," she shared.
She lost both loved ones to heart attacks.
"I mean you don't imagine waking up Christmas morning, and your husband is not home yet because he was working and so you call him and he doesn't answer," Lacey Stirdivant, Cheyenne's mother, said. "So you go to where he was working and you're in a house by yourself with his lifeless body.. it's not easy"
Lacey said that is when she leaned in on first responders.
"They did everything they could, and they obviously wouldn't let me leave the scene until they knew I was stable enough to get myself home to my three kids," Lacey said.
It was the care and compassion that prompted Cheyenne to do something special for first responders in Sheboygan.
She is planning a free family fun day through the Sheboygan South High School student leadership organization, Red Team. Cheyenne says her dean, Ben Steen, has truly been in her corner since the start of her project.
A story of turning heartbreak into happiness♥️ Meet Cheyenne Stirdivant! She’s a student at Sheboygan South who lost both her dad and grandpa within weeks. Now she plans to honor first responders with a special event.
— Megan Lee (@MeganLeeNews) November 13, 2023
Tonight @ 6! @tmj4 pic.twitter.com/C7rhsaELpt
Steen shared, "I remember the first day she came up to me and she said, 'hey I have this idea, I really wanna do it.' I just said, 'you know what, go for it. You should do it, you seem passionate about it, do it.'"
Because of Cheyenne's flexible school schedule, she is able to hit the road during school hours to ask businesses for donations.
The driving force behind this project is knowing that her dad and grandpa are with her every step of the way.
"Her dad would be extremely proud of her, and so would her papa," Lacey said.
The event is set for early May with a goal of raising about $6,000.
She is accepting donations through this link. As well as gift basket donations for a basket raffle.
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