Cancer Fundraiser- March PPOW

Cancer Fundraiser

On March 8, 2015, I Ashley Jones, helped out with a cancer fundraiser. I did this fundraiser with my family and my best friend Isabella. The fundraiser was for my mother’s co-worker’s son, named Logan. Logan is 19 years old and has had cancer twice.

Here is his story: Logan kept getting morning headaches and nausea in the summer of 2002. When it was the school year again, Logan went to the eye doctor to see if he needed glasses. The doctor noticed something called hemorrhaging and he was immediately sent to a Children’s Hospital. He had surgery the next morning to remove a Medulloblastoma from his Medulla Oblongata. Luckily, the surgery removed the whole tumor, but while he was recovering he developed spinal meningitis. Logan began chemotherapy and radiation, although he lost most of his hearing because of it, he successfully beat cancer and came out of the treatments very healthy.

This summer Logan lost all hearing in his left ear, and was able to get a cochlear implant. A month or so later, he developed double vision and had trouble balancing. After a few rough months for him and his family, they had learned that Logan’s cancer had returned. This time it was a different kind of tumor- Glioblastoma Multiforme, also know as (GBM). He had surgery on November 11, and they were able to remove 90% of his tumor. That left behind 10% of his tumor, and that was on his brain stem and facial/auditory nerve. Although it was risky, they took a chance and put him under radiation again. They have seen some great results and they are planning on a new round of chemo.

Another co-worker was feeling generous and took the time to put together this wonderful event. She has known him and his dad for years and wanted to raise money so his dad could pay all the big hospital bills. This event literally turned my life around. It made me realize how short life is, and that you should live it too the fullest. It also taught me that there are kind people in this world that do care for others.

They had many different ways of raising money, Raffle tickets, baked goods, bowls of chili, hot dogs, t-shirts, and a silent auction. My shift started at 1:00 pm and ended at 3:00 pm. During those two hours Bella and I served chili to lots of people. Since my shift was just around lunch time, it was really busy. My mom sold raffle tickets and my dad helped out with the bake sale. Drew was originally going to sell t-shirts but it was really slow when his shift started, so he ended up selling raffle tickets with my mom. We had so many food donations that they couldn’t all bring them inside.

Since this fundraiser involved my mom’s co-worker, I was able to meet her other friends from work. They were so inspired to help out their friend in need. People that were working the bake sale couldn’t count money so my dad had to do it for them. Drew went around and asked people if they wanted to buy raffle tickets while they ate. Many people bought them and went to look at what they wished to win.

While Bella and I served chili, a guy came up four times to try many different kinds of chili. As we awkwardly served him chili, we were secretly dying of laughter. We also met so many amazing people there while working the stand. You probably think that serving chili isn’t fun at all, but I had the best time ever. I was so lucky to share that day with such great people.

It really warms my heart that so many people did this for Logan. We made him feel so special and we showed him that he is not alone. Logan was very happy and so was his dad. The fundraiser went from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm.

After we were all done working, we decided to stay and buy some raffle tickets. We bought four sets of yellow tickets and two sets of blue. There were different colors for the different prize areas. Later on after we put our tickets in the buckets, Drew decides to take a look at the silent auction that was going on.

Drew ended up putting the first bid on season tickets for three sports at Creighton, you had to increase the bid by five dollars and his opening price was $90. The sports ended up being: Women’s volleyball, Men’s Basketball, and Men’s Soccer. As some time passes by, a guy puts down a higher price than Drew’s. After men go back and forth including Drew, the time slowly slips away and Drew ends up losing the auction. He wasn’t too happy about it, but it’s okay, he will get over it.

It ends up being 4:00 P.M. before they start drawing the raffle tickets. It went pretty slow because half the people that won were in a different room or had already left. It also was slow because there were so many things you could win. One lady won three things, another person won about five things. After they were done naming the yellow ticket winners, they went on to the blue.

After about five or so names, it comes to my attention that I put my ticket in the one they were drawing next. The item that I put my name in for was a Mary Kay makeup set. As I mumble my name; as a joke, they literally speak my name and I jumped right out of my seat. I was super excited for no reason at all, but I was still really happy that I won something.

As the rest of the raffles went on, we all clapped when someone won something. It was about the 
end of the event when Logan comes up to the microphone to say thank you to everyone who helped 
and/or came to support. This event raised about $13,000 all together. We said our goodbyes and left 
feeling so great because we just took the time to help out Logan and his family.