Fundraiser for Rocky student tops previous goals

As many as 1,000 people showed up for a fundraiser held on Jan. 22 to support 16-year-old Rocky Mountain High School student Macey George, who was diagnosed with a relatively rare brain tumor earlier this year.[caption id="attachment_10881" align="alignright" width="285"] Katrina Malson, Hayden Thormalen, Desiree Crosby and others examine items up for bid, during a silent auction fundraiser held on Friday, Jan. 22. The auction, T-shirt sales and a raffle raised $14,000 for Rocky Mountain High School student Macey George, who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor earlier this year.
Susan Peck photo[/caption]The event, called “Gray Matters,” was held during the RMHS versus Riverside basketball games at RMHS and raised around $14,000 to help Macey and her family with medical and related expenses.A silent auction of gift baskets, quilts and other items raised around $10,000, and the sale of around 550 T-shirts and the raffle of a smart TV raised the rest.So far, this and other fundraising activities have raised $27,100 for Macey and her family. According to coordinator Julia Crosby her initial goal of raising $25,000 to help the family has now been surpassed, but she will continue her fundraising efforts through a GoFundMe website that was set up only a few short months ago. The site can be found at www.gofundme.com and allows individuals to donate directly online.“This has been so wonderful for the family to see this kind of support from the community,” said Crosby. “It’s really been a boost for them to feel this support.”George’s rare brain tumor known as craniopharyngioma was discovered at the base of her brain near her pituitary gland in February of 2015. Though benign, the tumor is fast growing and affects important nearby organs. For George, that means she needs to take several lifesaving medications to replace the hormones that the pituitary gland made before it was affected by the tumor.Though George underwent surgery to remove the tumor about a year ago, the tumor has a high rate of re-growth and will require MRIs the rest of her life to monitor it. A recent MRI test shows it is already re-growing since the surgery and it is uncertain if that will require additional treatments to reduce its size.

By Patti Carpenter