Daryl White, Jr., said Monday that the Fight Like a Tiger Benefit Oct. 5 to support two ladies from the Belle High School Class of 1994 who were diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, raised $23,195 total, exceeding their $6,000 to $8,000 goal.
“We thought if we could get them $3,000 to $4,000 it might help them to take a mini vacation or pay some bills,” White said. “So they will receive $11,597.50 each.”
White was a co-organizer of the event that took place at Padgett’s Place Bar & Grill, 215 S. Alvarado Avenue, and benefited Amy (Curry) Reed and Kim (Casey) Buschjost.
“We called the ladies awhile ago to tell them,” he said. “They cried cause they couldn’t talk to us.”
Reed and her husband have two young boys and are self-employed. Since Reed was diagnosed and began treatment, she has been unable to help with their business, while her husband has continued on his own. They have been reluctant to hire any help.
Reed’s close friends have set up a Go Fund Me account to help the family with expenses. She has completed four rounds of AC chemotherapy and four rounds of Taxol chemotherapy. She is scheduled to receive eight more rounds of Taxol before any surgery is to be scheduled. Afterwards, she will receive radiation therapy, if the pathology report indicates it is needed.
“Amy was saying how this was going to help so much,” White said.
Organizers for the Fight Like a Tiger event have been working for months to make the fundraiser successful.
“When we started the benefit meetings, we had zero money, and didn’t want to spend much, so these ladies would receive every dollar,” White said.
The event also doubled as the Belle High School’s 1994 class reunion.
“The original reunion was supposed to take place at White Mule Winery next weekend,” White said. “But we managed to change it to this weekend so everyone would be in town for the benefit.”
The event included a fish fry at $8 a plate, silent auction with all donated items, live auction, a balloon pop, gun raffle, and t-shirt sales.
“We started with the ideal of going to have a fish fry, and thought we would need three cases of fish, but actually fried eight and about 100 pounds of sausage,” White said. “People were stopping on main street and giving us $20 or asking for $125 worth of fish or asking me to make 10 plates and give $100.”
White and five or six other members of the class of 1994 came up with the idea to organize a benefit at the Belle Fair. When they started talking entertainment, one band came up.