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Childhood cancer walk debuts

The first Lake City Area Childhood Cancer Awareness event took place in windy but sunny conditions Saturday, Sept. 28, at Ohuta Park in Lake City.

It was a festive atmostphere, with balloons, live music, and hot dogs, punctuated with somber reminders of the toll childhood cancer can take on children and families.

Lake City Area Childhood Cancer Awareness is a group of local mothers of children who have had cancer and one childhood cancer survivor working to raise awareness of the disease and money for research and to help families affected by it.

One of the mothers, Kerry Goihl, spoke about her experience, the unexpected discovery that her daughter Katie had leukemia, the emergency medical care that followed and her final moments with Katie before she died just a few days later.

“I held her hand, told her I loved her, and gave her permission to go to heaven,” Kerry said.

Katie’s was one of several local childhhod cancer stories highlighted at the event.

On Tuesday organizers said they considered the first event a success.

“We raised approximately $7,500 and still have donations coming in. We are overwhelmed and thankful for the generosity of our small town and the support given to our group. We will be funding a Wabasha and Lake City high school scholarship, giving a donation to Childhood Cancer Communities (a local childhood cancer support group), and Alex’s Lemonade Stand (which uses money for childhood cancer research). We will continue to fight childhood cancer for a lifetime and one month of childhood cancer awareness is not enough,” they said in a statement.

“We are very appreciative of the support of the businesses of Lake City and Wabasha. Mitchel Medvec and Mike Malles have amazing talent and did a great job entertaining the crowd. For a cold and windy day we are very happy with the outcome.”

They are looking forward to next year’s event, they said, and “hope to continue to partner with schools, businesses, and others who will support our endeavor.”

People can still donate by contributing to the Lake City Childhood Cancer Awareness page on gofundme.com or the Lake City Area Childhood Cancer Awareness account at Lake City Federal Bank.

More information about the group can be found on its Facebook Page.

 

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