A Super Bowl party for Raelyn, a child with leukemia
The Harbaugh brothers and Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis are popular stories leading up to Super Bowl XLVII.
The stories are hardly important to Greg and Rebecca Beckler of Orange County. Their attention is on Raelyn Beckler, their toddler daughter who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia a year ago. However, the Big Game remains relevant in their lives.
That’s because friends and family are ready to support Raelyn with a Super Bowl party on Sunday.
Mike Mackellar, one of the Beckler’s friends, has offered his Shady Canyon home in Irvine as the site of party central for the NFL championship game that features the San Francisco 49ers against the Baltimore Ravens.
Alan Freeman, of local promotions group Diamond Productions, created a Facebook page: Shady Canyon Super Bowl Party – Mike Mackellar for Raelyn Beckler.
The party, in the name of charity, starts at 2 p.m. A minimum entry of fee of $10 will be collected.
There will be a huge, big screen projection TV along with several flat-screen TVs. A DJ will be spinning tunes for dancing at halftime and after the game.
Several local companies and sponsors will be present to help out their favorite little girl and her family.
There are many challenges and medical bills that the Becklers have confronted and are explained on a website at https://www.giveforward.com/raelynbeckler.
The website also features heartwarming photos of Raelyn and her family.
She still manages to smile as she is undergoing monthly chemotherapy treatments at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Raelyn also takes a chemotherapy pill each day, steroids one week out of every month and weekend medicine to fight off infections.
The plan is for her to receive this treatment until April 2014.
“Raelyn unfortunately is unable to attend preschool because of her illness,” the site reads in a message from Greg Beckler.
There are babysitting costs up to $1,300 each month. In addition, medical bills come to the family daily. The bills average $300 a week that their insurance does not cover.
After the Super Bowl, the football champions will be celebrated.
But the Becklers and their friends are planning there to be more than just one winner from the Big Game.
Twitter: @SteveVirgen