May 11, 2006

Mills Lawn student Maeve Korkan-Laughlin was among the many students who shot baskets during a fundraiser last Friday for fifth grader Tyler Kimbal, who has cancer.

By Diane Chiddister

Kids love to have a good time, and Mills Lawn School students were clearly having one last Friday morning during the Basketball Shoot-A-Thon in the school’s gym, which pulsated with the sounds of music, bouncing balls and children’s energy.

But kids also love helping each other, and Friday’s event, while undeniably fun, was all about the students giving their all to raise money for the family of fifth grader Tyler Kimball, who has cancer.

“He’s really really nice. Everyone in the fifth grade misses him,” classmate Alex Thorp said as she rested between shooting baskets.

“He’s a part of Mills Lawn. We care for him,” said another classmate, Adrianne Beer.

The fundraiser was a huge success, Mills Lawn guidance counselor Linda Sikes said on Monday. The kids raised a total of $4,415, with the school’s two fifth-grade classes raising $1,956 together.

“It was the best of a community pulling together,” said Sikes.

Mills Lawn physical education teacher Jutta Galbraith, who co-organized the event with Sikes, said the students amazed her with their care for Tyler.

“I’ve had kids ask if they can donate the money they just got for their birthday,” Galbraith said. “I’ve been blown away by their generosity.”

The two Mills Lawn employees organized the Shoot-A-Thon not only to raise money for the Kimball family, but also to give the students a way to express their concern for their classmate, Sikes said.

Tyler Kimball

Since Tyler was diagnosed with cancer last winter, his illness “has affected the fifth graders significantly,” she said. “It’s a really caring group of students. They’re concerned and worried about him.”

All students in grades three through six took part in the Basketball Shoot-a-Thon, and between them made 4,170 baskets, Sikes said.

Teachers and parent volunteers counted the baskets, but the number of balls that swished through the nets didn’t really matter, she said.

Rather, each student shot baskets for four minutes, and then turned in pledges that he or she had gathered. Students gathered the pledges by going door to door, contacting family and friends and dipping into their own savings, several kids said.

For the last several months, Tyler has missed many days of school. He was diagnosed with a desmoplastic small round tumor in his abdomen in January, which was discovered after he suffered excruciating pain from being hit by a basketball during a school game.

Since that time, he has undergone four rounds of chemotherapy, which has been hard on him, said his mother, Cecilia “Cha Cha” Kimball.

“He has good days and bad days,” Kimball said.

While Kimball and her two sons live in Xenia, she grew up in Yellow Springs, and has worked for 15 years at Current Cuisine. Tyler’s grandparents are Joe and Ann Holly.

While Tyler remains happy and “easy to please,” he also suffers frequent nausea and tires easily, his mother said.

As for herself, Kimball said, she takes life one day at a time.

“From one day to another things can change,” she said. “They can change from one minute to another.”

The family is preparing for Tyler’s surgery on May 15 at the Sloan Kettering Medical Center in New York City. The chemo shrunk Tyler’s tumor by half, Kimball said, and doctors hope to remove the rest during surgery.

The family will stay in New York for up to two weeks, and will fly there this week on a private Lear jet provided by Angel Network, which provides transportation for cancer patients.

Following the surgery, Tyler will receive daily radiation treatments in Cincinnati, Kimball said.

The community has been wonderful in offering support, Kimball said, and in addition to the Shoot-A-Thon, fundraisers have included a dance at Yellow Springs High School, a bake sale and a scrapbook-making workshop.

The donations will help cover hotel expenses and purchase medication not covered by insurance, Kimball said. Tyler’s insurance also has a cap on coverage of $1 million, which his mother believes will be reached soon, if it hasn’t already been reached.

While she appreciates the financial donations, Kimball said, she also deeply appreciates the emotional support.

“The village has been wonderful,” she said. “I feel every prayer that’s been coming in.”

What keeps her going, Kimball said, is her “hope of seeing a normal, healthy child in a year’s time.”

And one more thing keeps her going, Tyler’s mother says: “his smile.”

Those who wish to support the Kimball family may make a contribution to the Kimball Family Fund at any US Bank.

Contact: dchiddister@ysnews.com