Battling a life-threatening medical illness is no easy task. With a positive attitude and a big heart, Special Spaces Club makes an effort to help brighten the lives of children who fight a battle every day.

Special Spaces is a nationwide program, raising money and working hard to give children their dream bedrooms. Involved and inspired by this program, juniors Sam Welch and Tim Koo started their own Special Spaces Club at Central, reaching out to the Naperville Central community for support.

While the end result is rewarding, the process of fundraising money to renovate a room is no easy task.

“Each room costs about $4,000, and we try to raise $2,000 and find a local business willing to donate the other half,” Welch said. “There isn’t really a set amount of [rooms] we do. It all depends on how successful we are in raising money.”

Fundraising projects include a wide range of opportunities and can include almost anything. Currently, Special Spaces is selling wristbands during lunch. They will also host a soccer tournament on Feb. 19 at Players Indoor Sports. This tournament is open to all adults and high school students and is not limited to Central. Registration and sign up is required and can be done by contacting Welch through his email at [email protected].

“The local hospitals give us a list kid with a severe medical condition, and Special Spaces evaluates the families to see who needs a makeover,” Welch said. “Our club collaborates with Special Spaces to help raise money, and [we] eventually participate in the makeovers, which is the best part.”

Special Spaces meets every other Thursday morning on the second floor in Room 229.  The club continues to grow, with new members including juniors Cade Madson and Alison Ware, who are happy to have joined.

“I found it to be a really good opportunity to do something good for the community,” Madson said. “It’s a really fun club, and it’s also a good way to connect with the people around us.”

Ware shares this sentiment.

“I really like what we do,” Ware said. “Although it’s difficult and challenging at times, it always pays off.”