A fundraiser next weekend will help a family whose twin infants are both suffering from leukemia. The planners had stated at one point that this day could bring in $5,000 — but now they feel that’s not enough.
“Our goal is $5,000. But we want to blow that out of the water,” said Trace Beck of Beck Motors, which is conducting the fundraiser.
The money will go toward medical and travel expenses for Abby and Aaron Breyfogle. Their 4-month-old twins, Kenedi and Kendal, are both suffering from acute myeloid leukemia. As first reported in the Aug. 20 edition of the Capital Journal, the babies will go through extensive treatment of six to nine months.
How it works
The fundraiser will be at Beck Motors, near the mall, from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 12. Beck’s service technicians will do oil changes for free, in exchange for a suggested $50 donation to the Breyfogle family. Cash, checks and credit cards will be suggested, Trace said.
Car washes will be offered for a separate $50 suggested donation to the family. Staff from the law firm of May, Adam, Gerdes & Thompson — where Abby Breyfogle works — will handle the car wash, along with staff from the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s Division of Planning & Engineering Office of Research — where Aaron Breyfogle works.
Steve Beck said the dealership will have seven bays set up for oil changes. Earlier, the Becks had said they expect to do 50 to 60 oil changes; now Steve said he hopes the technicians can handle around 80 oil changes in those four hours.
Cars will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis. If there are more than 20 cars waiting at 3 p.m., the line will be tagged. No further cars will be accepted, Trace said.
In addition to the oil changes and the car wash, there will be other ways to raise money that day. Hot dogs will be offered in exchange for donations, for example.
On top of that, Trace said Beck Motors is kicking in an extra $1,000. The May Adam law firm is donating $1,000 as well, said Mike Shaw, a partner at the firm.
Also, people will be able to donate to the family electronically. Either text “twins” to 56512 or go to http://bycell.co/csje, Steve Beck said.
How they got involved
Trace Beck said he got involved because of the initial article in the newspaper.
“We read that, and nobody had dry eyes by the time we were done reading it. We pretty much knew that we had to do something,” he said.
The staff kicked around ideas on how to help. Steve credited Trace with the idea of oil changes, because that’s something the dealership could do.
Shaw, at the law firm, had a similar reason, noting that Abby Breyfogle works there.
“We were really taken aback when we heard the news of the twins. Of course, we can’t imagine how Abby and her husband felt about that. I know everybody here thinks highly of Abby and her husband. And immediately we started talking about what we could do to help her,” he said.
Shaw added that Trace is a friend and a client of the law firm. When he called and suggested the fundraiser, the law firm was glad to join in.
“Trace is a super guy, a good businessman and a real solid member of the community. I applaud him for doing this and letting us help,” he said.
This article originally appeared on www.capjournal.com
