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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2003
TRINITY -- Before leukemia took him, 12-year-old Kevin LaPlante needed to see two things through.
One was a plea for help. The other, his dream for a cure.
The Crystal Beach sixth-grader accomplished the first before his death last August.
Through public speaking engagements, he inspired more than 1,000 people to register as bone marrow donors.
His dream was honored Monday by his stepfather, a developer and member of the Pasco Building Association, during a home groundbreaking in Trinity.
It was the association's second "showcase home."
The luxury houses, which will be built each year throughout Pasco County, are dedicated to Kevin. Some of the proceeds from their sale go toward cancer research at the Pediatric Cancer Foundation in Tampa.
"It's been tough," said Charles Horne, Kevin's stepfather and president of Windward Homes in Tampa. "I work very hard but sometimes I can't stop thinking of him."
The little boy went from playing soccer and public speaking to fighting leukemia. He died an advocate for other sick children after a 30-month chemotherapy regimen.
Horne said it now falls to family and friends to carry on Kevin's work.
Doug Naumann, a fellow builder, came up with the idea to donate some of the profits from the showcase homes to the building association and the cancer center.
Strictly a research facility, the Pediatric Cancer Foundation was founded in 1991 when two Tampa moms met while their daughters underwent cancer treatment. Both children survived.
Naumann's Image Custom Homes organized construction of the first showcase home last year.
For sale at $479,000, the 2002 house was built in Longleaf with donated supplies and labor.
This year's home is valued at $250,000 to $275,000 and comes with a twist. The house, which should be finished this fall, can either be won via a series of charity golf tournaments or sold.
In the coming months, PBA members are holding several private and public charity tournaments. Finalists from those initial tournaments will compete this summer in a Lake Jovita match -- a date and time is still being decided.
The golfer who sinks a hole-in-one there wins the house at 1606 Kish Blvd. in Trinity's Thousand Oaks neighborhood. If no winner emerges, the house will be sold.
"We're doing it to give back to the community, to help fund the PBA and to help the charities,' said association president Joe Yannon, vice president with Panda Construction which is building the 2003 model.
If no winner emerges, Panda Construction will recoup any out-of pocket-expenses via the sale and the Pediatric Cancer Foundation will receive 15 percent of the remaining profits.
The rest goes to the Pasco Building Association, which has raised $70,000 from supplier and subcontractor donations on the 2002 home in Longleaf. (The cancer center's take is $3,700 so far.)
On Monday, a host of builders, local officials and Kevin's family attended the groundbreaking and planted a magnolia tree at the house in his memory.
"Kevin just saw this as his calling to help in any way he could," Charles Horne said.
"It's just not something kids should have to go through -- a terminal illness. I really think we can cure childhood leukemia. This is a start."
For information on the golf tournaments, contact the Pasco Building Association at (727) 375-8922.