PARIS — What started out as a family dinner quickly morphed into a fundraiser for a West Paris boy who has battled cancer for half of his young life.
A fundraiser for 6-year-old Cody Bean of West Paris will be held at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Paris Fire Station, 137 Western Ave. There will be a potluck supper, with live music, a homemade pie auction and raffles, including a 50/50. It is $5 for adults and free for children 10 and younger.
Michele Cox, who is Cody’s cousin, organized the fundraiser with the help of her family.
“It started out we wanted to do a family dinner. I said, ‘I will rent a hall because we have a big family,’” she said, adding she then decided to host a fundraiser for Cody and his family. “I don’t expect to make a whole lot of money, just a little bit extra for Christmas or whatever they need it for.”
Cox noted Cody has lived with neuroblastoma for more than half of his life. His battle began in November 2013 when he was 2½ years old.
“It started as tumor in the leg, and they thought it was going to be something simple, but it’s not,” she said. “It is very rare.”
Cody’s mother, Katie Bean, said her son was in remission for a year until he relapsed in April 2016.
“We started treatment at Maine Med, but it didn’t seem to work so we got transferred to Sloan Kettering in New York where we are currently undergoing an antibody treatment,” she said.
While Cody can’t go to school full time, he is able to attend when the family is back in Maine.
“He’s able to attend the weeks we are home, which is about two weeks, then we are in New York for almost two weeks,” Katie Bean said.
Fundraiser attendees are encouraged to wear gold or yellow as the Cox Family Go Gold for Cody, which is part of a campaign for Maine towns and residents to recognize September as Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The campaign was launched by the late Hailey Steward of Bethel and her family. Hailey recently lost her battle with cancer.
The greater Oxford Hills community is invited to Go Gold for Cody Bean, above, from 5:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Paris Fire Station with a fundraiser to help him battle cancer.
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