On March 16, 1993 Micayla Patterson was born. She was a beautiful baby girl with two very loving parents. Seventeen years later, Patterson, an only child, would be the victim of a fatal car accident after a John Mayer concert in September.
She had 17 wonderful birthdays at the time of her death. Her parents, Chris and Becky, decided to give her one more birthday party, a party to honor their daughter and iCHOOSEhope. The celebration of Patterson’s 18th birthday was March 18, 2011 from 5-8 p.m.
“Losing our only daughter was tough but knowing where she’s at and that we’ll see her again is why we started iCHOOSEhope, because we do choose hope and if we could have our daughter’s name live on, that’s what we want to do,” said Chris Patterson.
iCHOOSEhope.org is a project that will give Har-Ber students scholarships, send Fellowship youth to camp, and help send athletes towards their sports goals.
Micayla’s birthday celebration was held at Chick-Fil-A in Fayetteville and Rogers. A portion of the Chick-Fil-A receipts went to the iCHOOSEhope project. Although iCHOOSEhope required donations on this night, it plans to become a nonprofit organization.
Chick-Fil-A is known for hosting spirit nights for schools and organizations and couldn’t wait to help out with iCHOOSEhope.
“We’re very excited and very honored to have everyone here tonight, and we think it’s a great way to remember Micayla,” said Sarah Bryant.
Har-Ber students crowded the restaurant and church cell groups gathered there for their weekly devotional. Micayla’s death brought a lot of heartache and sorrow for her friends and family, but the outcome led to great things when it comes to helping others.
“Good things can come from death but death isn’t actually a good thing. But Micayla’s death brought a lot of good things for others,” said junior Blake Paterson.
Although Micayla Patterson is still missed daily by the people she knew and loved, her memory will live on through the iCHOOSEhope project. Her father even added a tattoo of Micayla to his arm so he can always remember her.
