DOING IT FOR DYLAN; BREAKFAST AIDS BOY'S STRUGGLE TO BEAT DISEASE.Byline: Jin Whang Daily News Staff Writer Hundreds of Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. residents woke up early Saturday to make breakfast in the amphitheater of the Valencia Marketplace to help a 12-year-old named Dylan Foley. Almost 200 volunteers made pancakes to help raise money for the Dylan Foley Fund to help pay medical expenses to treat the boy, who was diagnosed in July with Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin's lymphoma, also known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma first described by Thomas Hodgkin in 1832. Hodgkin's lymphoma is characterized clinically by the orderly spread of disease from one lymph node group to another and by the development of systemic , a cancer of the body's disease-fighting system. The $3 tickets for the pancake breakfast were sold door-to-door, at markets and at schools, making Dylan Foley a household name. Even the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. has a special connection to Dylan - his father, Jim Foley Jim Foley, an Ottawa native, was a star slotback player in the Canadian Football League. He attended St. Dunstan's University, later to become the University of Prince Edward Island, and played footbal from 1966 to 1969. , is a deputy. Last week, Sheriff Sherman Block encouraged personnel to attend Saturday's breakfast. Sprinkled throughout the crowds bordered by Starbucks Coffee and Jamba Juice Jamba Juice is a high-end chain of smoothie restaurants headquartered in Emeryville, California with over 640 locations operating in 21 states, the District of Columbia and the Bahamas. Over 400 locations are company-owned, with the remainder being franchised. were uniformed off-duty sheriff's officers who came by to bring donations to a fellow deputy they had never met. A group brought almost $200 in donations from the Pitchess North County jail facility in Castaic. Jim Foley said he was overwhelmed that so many people were up helping. ``Our family is so fortunate to be living in this wonderful, caring community,'' he said. ``They know what the right thing is and what their priorities are. It's amazing. ``It's even brought a greater belief and trust (in God). I knew God wouldn't give Dylan anything he can't handle . . . he's been through two miracles already,'' Foley said of his son, who was ``resting at home in good spirits'' with his 8-year-old sister, Katlyn , 9-year-old brother, Logan, and mother, Lou Ann. Dylan was finally home Tuesday after undergoing treatment at UCLA Medical Center UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California. It is rated as one of the top three hospitals in the United States and is the top hospital on the West Coast according to US News & World Report. for clostridium clostridium Any of the rod-shaped, usually gram-positive bacteria (see gram stain) that make up the genus Clostridium. They are found in soil, water, and the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals. Some species grow only in the complete absence of oxygen. fascia fascia (făsh`ēə), fibrous tissue network located between the skin and the underlying structure of muscle and bone. Fascia is composed of two layers, a superficial layer and a deep layer. , a bacteria that attacked his muscle tissue. He is due back at UCLA Medical Center Oct. 9 for more chemotherapy. Since Dylan's illness, his mother has been staying home from her job as a county court reporter to take care of him. ``We all have sons ourselves,'' said Nancy Ullman, a friend of the Foley family whose children played ball with Dylan. ``You put the situation in your shoes and you wonder how you'd handle it . . . everyone is making a difference for Dylan.'' Like Ullman, who helped organize Saturday's event, many of the volunteers are parents of children who are friends, classmates Classmates can refer to either:
Lora Green, a PTA PTA or parent-teacher association: see parent education. member at Stevenson Ranch Elementary who is heavily involved with the fund, said that although her children are younger, she used to see Dylan at school frequently and knew that the students were very sad when they heard the news about him. ``The kids are really sad, very worried,'' she said. ``This is their very first exposure to cancer.'' But for a bunch of 9- to 13-year-olds, the friends were among of Dylan's biggest supporters. ``We think about if it were us, we'd want our friends to help, too,'' said 12-year-old Zach Winkler Winkler may refer to:
The boys will team up once again to sell more tickets for the upcoming fund-raisers: a Cruise Nite at the Valencia Auto Spa Hand Car Wash on Oct. 3 and an adults vs. children hockey game later in October. Saturday's event also featured a raffle where prizes included a $650 mountain bicycle, more than 100 Beanie Babies and memberships at a local martial arts center donated by former Power Ranger Jason Frank. For more information on the Dylan Foley Fund, call (805) 255-8166 or (213) 819-9562. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) (Ran in SAC Edition only) Volunteers flip flapjacks Saturday at a benefit for a 12-year-old with Hodgkin's lymphoma. (2--Color) (Ran in SAC Edition only) A photo of Dylan Foley, 12, an area boy undergoing cancer treatment, stands next to a donation jar. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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