When your Mom is diagnosed with leukemia you’ll do just about anything to cure her and make it all go away. That is just what Spencer and Morgan Evans of Fayetteville decided to do when they emptied their piggy banks and brought in their complete savings to the Relay For Life - Link Out Cancer fundraiser at Peeples Elementary School in Fayetteville.

The Evans family was scheduled to take a fun family vacation to the Mall of America in Minnesota over the winter school break in February of this year. For months Spencer and Morgan saved up money so they would have plenty to spend at the largest mall in America. Spencer had dreams of buying lots and lots of Lego building blocks and Morgan wasn’t sure what she wanted to buy, she just knew a girl needed money at a mall that big. Unfortunately, the family’s vacation plans were put on hold when Mom Alisa was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in February.

Spencer and Morgan Evans were familiar with the annual American Cancer Society fundraiser Relay For Life. Last year they watched their schoolmate, Megan Wilson carry the Relay torch through their Fayetteville Highgrove neighborhood. They then attended the Relay For Life event at the Kiwanis Fair Complex as a family. They had no idea that cancer would touch their own family within the next year. They couldn’t have imagined that one of them would be carrying the torch through Highgrove this year. Alisa Evans will carry the Relay torch for a quarter mile this year, as a cancer survivor. Currently undergoing treatment for CML, Alica is fortunately responding very well to medical treatment and has an excellent prognosis.

Spencer and Morgan say they were very sad when their Mom was sick and they wished they could make her feel better. Hearing that Peeples Elementary was again holding their Link Out Cancer fundraiser for Relay For Life, Morgan said it only took him a minute to decide what to do with his Mall of America savings. At Peeples, and many other Fayette County schools, students purchase paper chain links for $.50 each and write their name on each one that they purchase. The links are then displayed outside their classrooms and decorate the school halls. The class who purchases the most links, raising the most money for Relay For Life wins an ice cream party. This year the party will be in Spenser’s classroom. Spencer overwhelmed his teacher and classmates by bringing in his entire savings for the Mall of America trip, $352. It was Spencer’s desire to help the American Cancer Society find a cure for his Mom’s CML or some other cancer. Not to be left out, Morgan decided to share her mall money, $130 as well. Spencer and Morgan are not new to generous giving. Whenever Peeples has a bake sale fundraiser, both children have always brought in $20, funded by their grandmother; they purchase one item from the bake sale. They never ask for, or receive any change. Their grandmother and parents have shown the children the joy of sharing and giving to others. Both Spencer and Morgan say they feel great about their donations, and neither one has any regrets. As Spencer says, “Even if you don’t win the ice cream party, you’re still a winner for helping Relay For Life.”

The Fayette County Relay For Life will be held on Friday, May 5th at the Kiwanis Fair Complex in Fayetteville.

The torch relay will start at the Stonewall Village in downtown Fayetteville at 4:00 PM, the festivities at the Fair Complex start at 7:00 PM with the main torch lighting and the Survivor’s lap.

The public is welcome at all events.

For more information on Relay For Life, please contact Nychelle Williams, Senior Community Manager of the American Cancer Society, Fayette County at 770-460-8920.

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