When Melissa Barnes found out a friend’s baby was diagnosed with a deadly cancer, she e-mailed her other friends and asked for prayers.
They did better than just pray. They started a full-fledged campaign to cure 16-month-old Keyonna Stephenson and help support her mother, Christine, 28.
“The outpouring of generosity was overwhelming,” Barnes said.
One of her friends, Susan Webb, added, “All it took was a few e-mails.”
On Sunday, the group of friends gathered at Fat Franco’s restaurant to host a benefit auction for the mother and daughter.
There, donated gift baskets, spa massages, artwork and “wish candles” were auctioned to help cover living expenses for the Stephensons.
Stephenson left her job as a nursing assistant at Martin Memorial Hospital after Keyonna was diagnosed with advanced-stage neuroblastoma in June to care for the child full time, Barnes said.
Keyonna is undergoing her third round of chemotherapy at Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville, where she and mother will be for the next two weeks, Barnes said.
Neuroblastoma is a childhood cancer that attacks cells in the nervous system, which regulates digestion, heart rate and blood pressure. Keyonna was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma, the most advanced stage, Barnes said.
Barnes met Stephenson, a single mother, about two years ago after she moved to Stuart from a town in New England. She has no close family in the area, Barnes said.
Sunday’s auction was just the start of a series of fund-raising events. A benefit golf tournament is planned for Sept. 30 at the Evergreen Club in Palm City.
Auctioneer Janet Harding led Sunday’s event on a hopeful note. She called the small candles encased in midnight-blue boxes and donated by Martin Memorial “wish candles” for Keyonna’s recovery.
For $10, anyone could send a wish, Harding said. More than a dozen bidding cards shot up in the air.
“That tells me right there how the auction’s going to be,” she said.
Organizers were hoping to raise between $15,000 and $20,000 Sunday, Barnes said.
For information on Keyonna or to donate, go online to www.babykeyonna.com.
Donations also can be sent to Connor Moran Children’s Cancer Foundation, 825 S. U.S. 1, Suite 320, Jupiter, Fla. 33477. Checks should be made to the Connor Moran Children’s Cancer Foundation, specifying “Baby Keyonna” on the memo line.
