by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
“I only hope we remember one thing; it was all started by a mouse.”
Walt Disney’s famous words rang true Tuesday as Suddath Relocation Systems unveiled a six-foot, 700-pound Mickey Mouse statue to be placed at different children’s hospitals throughout the city. Its tour of the city will begin at Wolfson Children’s Hospital.
Suddath, headquartered in Jacksonville, was selected by The Walt Disney Co. to provide all transportation and logistics services for the 75 Years of InspEARations Tour. The statue is one of 75 that traveled across the country to 14 cities for 18 months. The statues were decorated by national celebrities and businesses.
All the statues were auctioned at Sotheby’s charity auction and raised more than $750,000 for 50 charities. Suddath bought its mouse for $6,500 and presented it to Laine Silverfield, chairman of Dreams Come True, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fulfilling the dreams of children with life-threatening illnesses.
“It’s a miracle every day because the business community of Jacksonville has enabled us to make the strides we have,” said Silverfield.
Owen Peeples, 3, is a cancer patient and one of the children who will see his dream come true when he goes to Disney World after the first of the year. He was presented with a gift basket by Suddath President Mike Damont. Peeples’ mother said that they were happy, and weren’t really expecting all of this.
Dreams Come True has helped more than 1,700 children in Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia since it was founded in 1984. One hundred percent of all donations, unless otherwise specified, go directly to dreams.
“A dream offers hope, a renewed spirit and a reason to keep fighting,” said Jim Barnett, Suddath chief financial officer. “Partnering with Suddath makes more dreams come true.”
The Mickey statue will go on a tour of Jacksonville and ultimately be housed at the Suddath building on S. Main Street.