Neill Penney's bedroom project started out as a dream of a small school in West Bloomfield who wanted to raise money for something special. Pine Lake Elementary School chose Suite Dreams Project and more specifically, Neill to be the recipients of their annual charity Walk-a-thon - "kids walking for kids." Pine Lake had raised money for Suite Dreams before and had such a great experience that the decision was unanimous! This year's walk proceeds would again go to benefit a child through the Suite Dreams Project.

My husband, Chris and I had the pleasure of meeting with the Penney's in there home in Ypsilanti in April. We got to know a little bit about Neill, his little brother, Ian, and his parents at this first meeting. They were all a little unsure, but very excited to finally be getting Neill's room redone by Suite Dreams.

Neill told us how much he loved fantasy and magical creatures. He shared his favorite colors with us; blue and yellow. He told us about some of his favorite things; computers and Legos. After this first meeting we set off to work gathering ideas and supplies to make a fantasy bedroom.

After searching online for ideas, I came across a website that took paintings and made them into large murals. I found the perfect one for Neill's room! We ordered the mural and designed the entire bedroom around it. The colors we chose were yellows and blues with bits of several other colors as well (all included on the mural). We found knight and dragon bedding, furniture (including a desk which was one thing Neill really wanted), toys, a rug, curtains, and many other wonderful things to make the room complete.

The project was done on the weekend of June 20, 2008, by five dedicated volunteers all with children or friends at Pine Lake: Rich Little, Julie Reilly, Laura Andoni, Chris Johnston, and myself (Megan Johnston). We painted two opposite walls bright blue and two bright yellow, and the ceiling a lighter shade of blue. Larry from the Closet Organization came and created a beautiful closet system for Neill's closet. We assembled furniture, cleaned, and painted for most of the first day. Day two we finished painting and put up the mural. The end of day two and day three were spent putting on the final touches: a ceiling of stars, curtains, dragon and knight toys, pictures on the walls, etc. We also spent time fixing up Neill's little brother, Ian's room. He shared with us his love of trains so we gave him new bedding, shelves, a lantern lamp, train pictures, and train toys.

The Penney's are a very humble family who didn't ask for much. The only thing Mrs. Penney asked for a good waterproof mattress pad for Neill's bed! It was obvious that the Penney's were a little nervous to leave and not know what they would come home to, but the family's reactions upon there return said it all. They were very happy and excited about all the changes we made to Neill's room. His mom was especially excited about the closet system because she is a very organized person!

So many people helped make this room possible for Neill. The five volunteers did so much, but the entire Pine Lake community really made it possible. Their Walk-a-thon raised over $7000.00. Each class at Pine Lake also signed books to fill Neill's new bookshelves! This was an amazing project and although it took a lot of effort, it was worth every second!