Community Comes Together for a Township 11-year-old

Facebook is a usually a community where friends gather to chat socially, but for 11-year-old Kyle McGetrick of Barnegat, it's where a community of people he may not even know have assembled to support him. And on Saturday that community came together to help him and his family.

Kyle, a rising sixth grader at the Brackman School, has battled an aggressive form of leukemia since the age of 5. Three weeks ago, Dee Lynch of Barnegat,  the founder of the “Courage for Kyle” organization, posted on her Facebook profile that the McGetrick family was in need of more financial support. 

Grace Buck, who knows both Lynch and Kyle from Boy Scout troop #26 saw the post and had an idea to host a community yard sale. Buck's husband, Tristan, is the leader of the troop. With the help of the American Legion and the local community, the yard sale was born.

“I battled Hodgkin's lymphoma back in 2001, and everyone helped me in ways that I didn't even know back then. The community came together for me. Now it is our turn to do it for Kyle,” she said at Saturday's event.

Buck and Lynch joined with Laura Padham, also mother to a scout, to head up Saturday's yard sale. The event took place on the grounds of the American Legion Post #232 from 8 a.m. until 1:30p.m. on Saturday.

“We're like the three amigos,” Lynch laughed at Saturday's event.

Lynch, Padham, and Buck have all been storing the donations in their homes for the past three weeks, and were awake by 5:30 a.m. on Saturday to begin setting up.

While at least 100 turned out for the event, one notable guest was missing. Kyle and his family are currently in Washington, DC, where the 11-year-old is undergoing experimental treatment. However, that didn't change the attitudes of everyone who came out.

“They're great people," Lynch said. "I'd say the family is like a Norman Rockwell painting. The perfect family. They're the first ones there for everyone else. Kyle's dad is a volunteer firefighter and EMT, and always helps out. Now it is our turn. If we can support them a little bit, it's one less thing they have to worry about."

Lynch's involvement in the cause began when Kyle and her son, Jimmy,  were in the second grade. A huge party was being planned when Kyle's family thought the leukemia had went into remission. Just before the party, doctors told the family the cancer was back, and Lynch says it was tough to have to break the news to her young son. But Jimmy, just wanted to help.

“I was just so sad. I asked what we could do because we always help everyone, and my mom said we can't make him better, but we can help out,” 11-year-old Jimmy Lynch said at the event.

The organization “Courage for Kyle” was founded based on that conversation, and Jimmy even helped come up with the organization's name.

“It made just made sense. Kyle is so courageous for everything he is going through,” Jimmy said at the event.

The organization has previously hosted events like 5K runs, spaghetti dinners, and even a roast beef dinner earlier this summer. Saturday's event may have been their most successful yet, and Lynch credits that to the support the entire county.

Laura Padham owns a Toms River sprinkler business and told all of her customers about the fundraiser, and offered to collect their bagged donations for the yard sale.

“I got lots of stuff bagged up, but many forgot, and just wrote out checks instead. Which is great. Some wrote out $50 or $100 checks for a boy they don't even know, and in this economy, it really says a lot,” Padham said.

One of the most notable cash donations came from a township child, Sean Elliot. Elliot, who Buck says couldn't have been much older than 10, donated a zip lock bag full of change on Saturday. The bag, which was originally allocated to Elliot's vacation fund, came with a note telling Kyle to “feel better.”

“I tear up just thinking about it,” Buck said.

The items featured at Saturday's yard sale included old telephones, holiday decorations, keychains, gift baskets, clothing, and small furniture items, but the hottest seller may have been chocolate. Jerry Neaves, of Barnegat, brought a cooler full of  candy to Saturday's fundraiser.

“My father-in-law and I work at the Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy in Atlantic City, and this is all of their 'imperfect chocolate'. It's still plenty good,  but it would basically go to waste. So when we approached the plant manager, he said that we could definitely take it out of the stock room, and since then we've been selling it. We're making pure profit for a great cause,” Neaves said looking over the chest of candy.

Neaves, who has an 11-year-old son, has only met the McGetrick family once, but he has helped to raise over $2,000 for the cause. Neaves says it is just important to help out.

“It's all about the kids. I have to go to work right after this, but it's worth being out here all morning. It's all about the kids. What else can you say?” Neaves said.

If you would like to donate to “Courage for Kyle” stop by any TD Bank branch in the area and inform the bank teller that you would like to donate to the fund. If you have any trouble or additional questions, contact Dee Lynch directly at 609-698-7420.

If buying chocolate for the cause, is more of your style, feel free to call Jerry Neaves at 609-661-4629.