Fundraiser boosts boy’s cancer fight

    A fundraiser benefitting 5-year-old Wellington boy Tait Levanger attracted a few hundred people last Saturday to the Helper Auditorium.
    Tait joined his family and friends and a few new people in his life to raise money for his fight against childhood leukemia.
    Tait is 18 months into a grueling three-year cancer treatment regimen. His mother, Marni, says he has his ups and downs, but so far has been a “trooper” through it all.
    “He’s a trooper. He really is a trooper,” she said. “Tait has been the lucky recipient of open heart surgery at six months. He had a broken femur at the age of two. He currently has another heart condition, the leukemia of course, and he’s had the tonsils and has just been diagnosed with cognitive hearing loss.”
    Besides feeding guests, the fundraiser held a silent auction and provided some live entertainment from the band Shovelhead Jack.
    Marni said funds raised will offset the considerable cost of traveling to and from Salt Lake City’s Primary Children’s Hospital every month.
    Asked to comment about how helpful fundraisers such as Saturday’s can be, she said she’s always overwhelmed by the kindness of her community.
    “This community is fantastic. And now I’m going to cry. It’s very endearing to live in this community,” she said.
    Besides constant travel, any funds go to offset medical bills. Marni says that despite both parents working and double insurance coverage, premiums, deductibles and routine expenses are constantly eroding the family’s finances.
    She says besides attending any fundraisers held for Tait, anyone who wishes to donate to Tait’s cause can do so at Mountain America Credit Union in Price.