ST. LOUIS — Sydney Coari, 7, of Hermann, Mo. has spent the past month making wonderful memories with her family. The young girl battling a rare form of kidney cancer is checking items off her bucket list she created last fall.
At the top of her list was to collect toys for sick children. The goal was to collect 1,000 toys but she ended up delivering more than 4,500. 5 On Your Side first met Sydney in December when she delivered the toys to Mercy in Creve Coeur.
On Friday, Sydney will complete her bucket list when she and her family leave for Florida, en route to Disney World. Her mother, Dana Manley, said friends and complete strangers raised nearly $10,000 to make the trip happen.
"It's really going to be special. They've even got a photographer to follow us around Magic Kingdom to give us lasting memories," Manley said.
The community has rallied around Syd since the story of her toy drive aired on 5 on Your Side. Manley said they received a letter from the local utility company in Hermann saying someone donated $1,000 toward their upcoming electric bills.
"To have someone know that we are struggling and to help us with our bills... that's something that never can be repaid but we are going to try and pay it forward," Dana Manley said.
