Friday, March 29th, 2024 Church Directory
THE SCHMIDTS with Andrew (middle, front), Lindsey (left, front), Hannah (right, front), Paul (left, back) and Nicole (right, back). (Submitted Photo).

Project 12-04 and Operation Xmas Jammies: How It All Began

(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Nicole Schmidt of Project 12-04.) 

Our (Nicole and Paul) son Andrew is the inspiration behind 12-04 along with all the other incredible families affected by Pallister Killian Syndrome (PKS).  

Andrew Schmidt, 16, of Becker, was diagnosed with PKS when he was just shy of five years old after first being diagnosed with Beckwith-Wiedeman Syndrome; he finally had a diagnosis that fit him. Since that time, Andrew has experienced the highs and lows of living with a rare genetic disorder.  Andrew walks with support, is nonverbal, and has shown resiliency through an array of health challenges and many surgeries causing setbacks and regression. Most importantly, Andrew shows us what unconditional love is. We believe there can be better opportunities for others through sharing our story and the stories of other rare families like us.

Having a rare syndrome means there is a lack of diagnostics, funding, exposure, knowledge on care, and limited educational opportunities to others on how to help.  Rare has meant isolation, loneliness, and exhaustion from our experience.  Rare means that the family will often know more than the specialist they are seeing as they may have access to the latest medical literature through a parent group.  Rare means financial strains.  Rare means strength, faith, resilience and perseverance. Rare means, there is more to learn.

All of these reasons were the drive in starting our non-profit called Project 12-04.

Operation Xmas Jammies is a program started through 12-04 with a simple mission — to provide a pair of jammies to children with Pallister-Killian syndrome (PKS) at Christmas-time. The Schmidts found that during the holidays, it could be challenging for others to know what gifts to give Andrew as children with PKS often don’t know how to play with toys as other children would.  To spread awareness and cheer during the holidays, Nicole Schmidt began a “Giving Tree.”

The Giving Tree began as a way for their community to visually see other beautiful children with PKS and make their holiday brighter by giving a gift Nicole knew all children would love, a pair of jammies.  

Their small community began to sponsor hundreds of children with PKS across the world and have given over 265 pairs of jammies across 17 countries.  This small, but sweet token of kindness became so well received for all participants that it inspired their live giving tree to go virtual, a name for this mission called Operation Xmas Jammies.  This mission has fostered relationships, built community, and has inspired the Schmidt family to expand their passion to create awareness for other rare genetic conditions through their new non-profit organization, Project 12-04.

To help promote awareness and support Project 12-04’s mission, a Charity Sit down Dinner and Beer Pairing will be held at Lupulin this Saturday on PKS Day and now shining light to additional rare genetic conditions!