CHARLOTTE — Brandon Wilson, a sophomore at Charlotte Catholic High School, started a charity in 2020 that has raised more than $15,000 to help the children of critically ill patients at Atrium Health.
Through his charity, Beemer Inc., Brandon sells wristbands and mugs inscribed with the motto #prayerswork. He also bakes chocolate pies and cooks chicken enchilada take-home dinners, with all the proceeds going to help kids.
He does it because of what he and his family went through during the pandemic.
Brandon was 10 years old in May 2020 when his mother, Michelle, was hospitalized at Atrium, critically ill with COVID-19. She went into septic shock, developed organ failure and was placed on a ventilator. The prognosis was grim. Brandon and his father David weren’t allowed to be at her bedside because of pandemic restrictions.
“The doctors told David and Brandon that the only thing left to do was pray,” Michelle Wilson said. “I was on maximum support and not showing improvement. So they prayed constantly. They prayed the rosary and other prayers Brandon learned at school.”
Brandon’s fellow students at St. Ann Catholic School joined in praying on Zoom, their fellow parishioners at St. Gabriel Church prayed, and soon others joined in.
During this difficult time, Brandon met Molly Whitt, a child life specialist at Atrium who helps children of critically ill patients understand their loved ones’ situations. Whitt comforted Brandon, offered distractions like video games and helped him learn coping strategies.
She got him an iPad so that he and his father could use Facetime to communicate with Michelle, who was in a coma. Every morning at 9 a.m., a nurse connected them as Brandon offered his mother a musical gift.
“He had recently learned to play piano, and he would play ‘Amazing Grace,’” David Wilson said. “I would stand there holding up the iPad with tears pouring out of my eyes. It was very emotional.”
More difficult days followed, and Michelle was placed on dialysis. But she slowly started to improve, and the prayers continued.
Nine weeks after falling ill, Michelle left the hospital assisted by a walker. A crowd of people who had worked with her during her illness and her coworkers in Atrium’s NICU unit cheered and wept with relief and joy. So did her son.
“It was the best day of my life – a great day,” Brandon said. “I cried.”
As his mom slowly recovered at home, Brandon came up with an idea to spread the message of the importance of prayer.
He designed #prayerswork wristbands and gave them to family members for Christmas. He decided to sell the wristbands and give the proceeds to Whitt’s program at Atrium
Health so she could help more children. The 11-year-old used his own allowance to establish a 501c3 organization, Beemer Inc., named after his nickname, “Beemer,” which relatives gave him because his initials are BMW.
#Prayerswork coffee mugs followed. He learned to cook working alongside Michelle in the family kitchen, and that’s where the chocolate pies and chicken enchiladas came from. He even published a cookbook.
Since making its first donation of $1,500 to Whitt’s program in 2022, Beemer Inc. has donated more than $15,000 to help children.
Others have joined in. St. Ann, Holy Trinity Middle School and St. Mark School have held Dress Down Days, where students can dress casually for a day in exchange for a small donation.
Beemer Inc. has also expanded its outreach. This year Brandon donated $500 in gas and meal cards to families in the hospital, and also gave funds and collected 100 board books for babies in Atrium’s NICU, a ward where he spent nine weeks after being born prematurely, weighing only two pounds.
His work has won him community awards, but that’s not why Brandon continues.
“I just do it to help others,” he said. “Seeing someone else smile because of something you did is one of the greatest feelings in the world.”
— Christina Lee Knauss