Pasco: Community raises money for young cancer victim

Community raises money for young cancer victim

Students at Kids Stuff Preschool held a bike-a-thon to raise money for Taylor Johnson, who must go to New York for a special treatment.

By MICHELE MILLER

LAND O'LAKES -- The folks at Kids Stuff Preschool and people in the community came through in a big way for 5-year-old Taylor Johnson, who was recently featured in Top of The Class.

Through a school bike-a-thon and checks mailed in to a special trust fund, more than $8,000 has been raised for Taylor, who must travel to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York to undergo special anti-body treatments for neuroblastoma, an aggressive form of childhood cancer.

"It's been wonderful," said Taylor's teacher, Judy DeFries, who organized the school fundraiser. "I still have checks coming in."

For now, Taylor is staying home from school until after the flu season subsides, said her mother, Angie Johnson.

"Right now she's doing very well, but she ended up back in the hospital on Feb. 22 because of sinusitis," Mrs. Johnson said. "Anything that leads into a fever sends us in (to the hospital.)"

The generosity of the community has been overwhelming, said Mrs. Johnson.

"I can't even tell you how grateful we are to have this. It brings a lot of ease with bills and all," she said. "It's just so much easier now, knowing that when we have to go to New York we have some money there."