In 2014, third grade teacher Mrs. Josie Whitney had a modest goal to collect 2,000 cans of PlayDoh in March to help honor the late brother of a Lorane student she taught the year before. His name was Jason Heckman, and through his battle with brain cancer, she discovered that the four year old loved to play with PlayDoh during the time he was being treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

Although Jason never had a chance to be a student at Lorane like his sister and brothers, he’s left an indelible impression on the school and community as he’s remembered each year and honored through Mrs. Whitney’s annual PlayDoh drive, which she holds every March. Last year, her collection netted a record-high 12,338 cans of the colorful doh, which she personally delivers to CHOP to help other children who can only use one can one time since it can’t be sanitized between uses. 

This year, with the community's help, Mrs. Whitney hopes to collect another 12,000 cans of PlayDoh to help honor Jason. If you’d like to help her reach her goal and donate to her drive, you may drop off PlayDoh donations at Lorane anytime during school hours, or you may send donations directly to the school, which is located at 699 Rittenhouse Drive, Reading, PA 19606. To learn more about Mrs. Whitney’s annual collection, please see our story from last year, or WFMZ’s story.