Bake sale to help young cancer patient

Friends and family gathered together at the Peninsula Medical Center in Marquette today to help raise money for a little girl in need.

Three-year-old Ainsley Kargela was diagnosed with embryonal rhabdoymyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer, in October. In addition to surgery, Ainsley needs to undergo 22 weeks of chemotherapy in Detroit. Friends and family decided to put together a bake sale to help raise money for her treatment.

“The community has been awesome,” said Jamie Curtis, a friend of Ainsley’s mother who helped to organize the event. “The second that we put the word out that we wanted to do a bake sale, things started rolling in. ‘I want to do this, and I want to bake this.’ Everybody and anybody was asking how they could help.”

This is not the first fundraiser that has been set up for Ainsley, and ongoing and future fundraisers are also in the works.

“So far, we were part of a fundraiser called Running For A Reason. This is our second thing, and then we’re going to do a 5K fundraiser in the spring, a run/walk,” Curtis added.

A fund has been set up at the West Washington Street branch of River Valley Bank in Marquette for monetary donations. Additionally, several local businesses are helping the cause in various ways.

Raffle tickets can be purchased for $10 at the Crayon Club on Werner Street in Marquette or by contacting Thirty-One Gifts Consultant Chelsea Wallner here. A portion of the proceeds go to help Ainsley. Five winners will be drawn, and the prizes will be hostess credit at Thirty-One Gifts. The deadline to purchase tickets is January 24th, and the drawing will be held on January 27th.

Monetary donations to the Ainsley Kargela Benefit Fund can be made in person or by mail to River Valley Bank at 1141 West Washington Street in Marquette.