By Sarah Beauchamp
NEWTON—Friends, family and community members will come together this Saturday to help raise funds for Tim Young, a lifelong Newton resident, for medical expenses while he receives cancer treatment.
There will be a bowling tournament, dinner and auctions to raise funds for the Young family’s medical costs, and the public is invited to attend.
Young went to the hospital at the end of April for pneumonia. He was then rushed to Wichita after they saw something suspicious. They found a tumor in his heart that is classified as “extremely rare.”
He had surgery a week later to remove the malignant tumor and was diagnosed with Sarcoma at the time. Doctors later found that he had cancer in his bones.
“We’re kind of in the beginnings of this,” Young said when talking about the treatments he was receiving.
He’s been working with oncologists at the Cancer Center of Kansas and KU Medical Center since then. He’s had two rounds of chemotherapy currently. After his third round, scans will be done to compare to where he started and where to go from there.
Several friends, including Greg Hanson, Arlan Newell, Joey Young and Mitch and Carol Nodland decided to get involved after learning of Young’s diagnosis.
Hanson said when their group of friends found out about his diagnosis, they decided to come together and hold a fundraiser to help Young and his wife, Danelle, with expenses involved in treatment.
“When a close friend of yours goes through something like this, you do what you have to, to help the family out,” Hanson said of Young, whom he met seven years ago.
The fundraiser is Saturday, Sept. 16. There will be several events happening at multiple locations.
A bowling tournament begins at noon and is expected to last until around 3 p.m. The tournament will be held at Eastgate Lanes, owned by the Nodlands, at 1610 E 2nd Street, Newton. It is a three-game tournament. People at all bowling levels are encouraged to compete. Young is an exceptional bowler and has many friends in the Newton bowling community.
Starting at 5 p.m. at the American Legion is a charity barbecue dinner. Attendees are encouraged to donate what they feel is right. American Legion is at 400 S Spencer Road, Newton.
During the dinner, there will be a silent auction that ends at 8 p.m. The announcement for auction items resulted in nearly 30 items being donated, and donations had to be stopped from all the offers.
After the dinner and silent auction is a live auction, featuring prizes, including two-night stays at lakes, wine tastings, family portraits and more. Both locations also have options to win a 50/50 raffle.
Young said he’s grateful for the help and effort his friends are giving him, but it felt odd to be the recipient of so much attention.
“That they would do this it’s humbling, and it’s amazing. And it’s weird,” Young said.
He plans to attend both locations as much as he can.
