Melissa &

The Dwyne Wade Jersey

Melissa, whose family has asked for her last name to remain anonymous, was diagnosed with an operable, cancerous brain tumor several months ago. She had it successfully removed, but because of the intricacies of the surgery, Melissa has to learn the basics of life all over.

In an attempt to return a sense of normalcy to Melissa’s life, we wanted to help raise money to purchase her a hairpiece. The wig we wanted to buy her was going to costs more than $3,000 because it is specially made.

We did a fundraiser with an autographed Dwyane Wade jersey with two gold championship pins and two championship pictures. One with him as MVP and one with the championship.

The Bru's Room Restaurant chain helped by selling raffle tickets. "Bob Brusinski, the founder of Bru's Room, wanted to give back. It's something he was always taught. Kids Of Love is a foundation we were introduced to, and we thought this was a perfect match for us," said Barbara Gobbi of Bru's Room Restaurants.

Baby Dylan's Fun Raiser

Life has been a challenge for Jeannie Eddy these days, besides her usually busy routine, and she’s flying back and forth to help care for her grandson Braydon while his parents, Trish and Greg Leslie, spend time with baby Dylan at The Children’s Hospital of Alabama.

Dylan was born with a mass on his left foot. Although he was being treated for what was believed to be a Hemangioma, the tumor continued to overgrow. A biopsy was done to ensure the proper diagnosis, and the heart-breaking diagnosis was High-Grade Undifferentiated Sarcoma. The growth was scarce (especially in infants), a very aggressive malignant tumor that tends to spread to other organs.

On 13 Aug 2012, a port was placed in Dylan’s tiny chest to administer Chemotherapy over 25 weeks. The news changed from bad to worse when an MRI performed 5 Oct 2012 showed that the tumor was not responding as hoped, and it could not be removed with clear margins. The doctors recommended amputating Dylan’s foot and continuing the Chemotherapy to attack potential micrometastases that would not be evident on the scans.

Dylan is receiving breathing treatments to help with congestion, morphine for the pain, and for the time being, is being fed through an IV since the Chemo-induced mouth sores make it too painful for him to drink his formula.

Jeannie’s friends at Leading Lady Fitness, where she is a much-loved member, wanted to do something to help their dear friend and her family; Fun Raiser was born.

The family-oriented afternoon was filled with music, food, and activities at Leading Lady Fitness. We even had a visit from Pompano Beach Fire Rescue.