All of you who are following Kale’s story know that he was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus and an inoperable brain tumor at the age of four months. Having exhausted treatment interventions at Lutheran General Hospital, Kale’s parents, Chris and Kristie Brenner, were told that Kale’s best option was participating in a clinical trial at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. The comfort of familiar hallways and doctors was suddenly gone and the Brenner’s were back at square one with a growing tumor, new treatments and an unknown future.
Thanks to the generosity of our customers, the Brenner’s are closing the gap on covering the cost of Kale’s expensive treatments. A check for $3,250 was presented to Chris and Kristie Brenner on April 2. These funds include money collected from the OnTarget Cares targets purchased by our customers, donations made through our Eventbrite site, from the OnTarget Cares Fund and thanks to the extraordinary gift of one of our customers who donated $1,000!
As that customer reported, “Being new grandparents to our 2½ and 1 year old grandsons, Kale’s story and what the Brenner family is going through is truly heartbreaking. It makes one take pause, in the hustle and bustle of our own lives to realize how precious life truly is and for us to take note on how fortunate and blessed we are, and have been, with health and happiness. The picture of Kale with his pup says it all. We will be thinking about and praying for Kale and his family and hope that the results of the MRI are excellent!”
Kale, now three years of age, has been undergoing the Lurie treatment protocol for several weeks now. An MRI was completed on March 12 to determine if the treatment was working. We are thrilled to report that Kale’s tumor is responding in a positive way!
We are only half-way through our efforts to seek donations on behalf of Kale. The above sum does not include the money we have, and are, collecting through our donation boxes at each register check-out, tickets purchased for our gun drawing which will take place on April 28, Customer Appreciation Day, and the on-going sale of the OnTarget Cares targets. To all of you, we wish to express our gratitude and thanks for helping this wonderful boy beat the odds.
Bo Strom and Judy Claxton
Owners
