Fundraisers To Help Cancer Victim And Family

[totalmotorcycle]

Fundraisers To Help Cancer Victim And Family
Friday, November 3, 2006 - By Reece Murphy - Reporter - The Daily Record - dunndailyrecord.com



Though it sometimes seems as if people just don't care anymore, there come other times when the community pulls together and restores the faith, by helping those facing a time of need.

Such is the case this weekend when two groups will hold fundraisers to help Chris Blevins of Dunn and her family by holding a plate sale and a motorcycle ride.

Not only was Mrs. Blevins diagnosed Aug. 17 with stage four breast cancer, but she and her husband, Gator, are struggling to take care of six children, one of whom was born the same week Mrs. Blevins began chemotherapy.

"I think the hardest part is not being able to take care of him (10-week-old son Landon) and my family like I feel I should," Mrs. Blevins said. "After chemo I feel very tired, plus I have a portable inserted catheter in my arm, so I can't hold him sometimes and that's kind of hard.

"So many people have been praying for us and helped us; I just really feel like I'm cured from it already," she said. "I've just got to go through the process of getting it (the cancer) out of me."

Mr. Blevins, who works as a technician for Tennant Company repairing electronic floor cleaners and is an advanced ultralight flight instructor, said the outpouring of help the family has already received is inspiring.

"We're getting cards and prayers from people all over the world," he said. "People have given us money anonymously, milk and diapers for Landon. Our church, Central Baptist, even brought us meals every day for a month.

"We don't have any family here and we've been very blessed ever since we moved here to this area," he said.

Of the events planned for this weekend, one is a plate sale organized by neighbor Denise Pacheco. The sale will run from 10 a.m. until at the corner of South Clinton Avenue (U.S. 301) and East Cumberland Street in the parking lot beside the Seaduction Dive Shop.

"We've got enough chicken for 1,000 plates, plus Martin Meats in Falcon donated five pigs," Mrs. Pacheco said. "When I found out, I wanted to do something for her, so I got with my dad, Frank Brager, who runs Feeding Our Neighbors In Need, and he helped me with it.

"We're going to have chicken and pork plates, yams and green beans on the plate and a roll and piece of cake," she said. "And we're having a raffle for oil changes and quilt racks, all kinds of things.

Mrs. Pacheco said the plates will sell for $6 and there will also be information and items for sale to promote breast cancer awareness.

The second fundraiser is a motorcycle run organized by fellow church members Allison and Howard Smith of Dunn, who have also been through their own family ordeal with cancer.

"We go to church with the Blevins and we really care about the family, and then we had our personal experience going through life-threatening cancer with our daughter," Mrs. Howard said. "But we were lucky because we were both able to keep our jobs.

"To be in their shoes, to have an illness like that and to have had a new baby, five other children, not be able to work and have increased expenses because of the ailment and the baby ... that's huge and it's a burden to us for them," she said. "So we decided to help."

Mr. Smith, who is a member of the Sandhills Chapter of Bikers For Christ, said the bike run will be a great ride and has already attracted riders from Fayetteville, Durham, Raleigh and Lumberton.

"It's going to be throughout Sampson County, approximately 100 miles," he said. "It is rolling country roads ... a lot of open riding. It's going to be a good time."

Registration for the ride is from 9 to 10:30 a.m., at the Howards' home at 1497 N.C. 242 (Benson Highway). Registration is $20 per motorcycle and $5 for each additional rider. The ride starts at 11 a.m.

"I don't know what to say, it's really overwhelming," Mrs. Blevins said of the support. "We just don't know how to start saying how much we appreciate the help of our church, and people like Mrs. Pacheco, her dad and the Smiths. We just hope we'll be able to show the same kind of love to somebody else some day."

For more information on the plate sale, contact Chris Blevins at 891-4736 or Denise Pacheco at (910) 524-8747. For more information on the motorcycle ride, contact Howard Smith at 891-1127 or (910) 988-9403.