Owen’s battle: Spaghetti, silent auction fundraiser set

On Sunday, December 10, the public is invited to a fundraiser at the Greybull Rec Center for Owen Kinane. Owen is two. He was diagnosed with leukemia in September. His parents are Rebecca and Roman Kinane. His younger brother is Griffin.
The spaghetti dinner and silent auction start at 5:30 p.m. Organizer Tera Sanchez is cooking the dinner. She said, “When I heard the news of Owen having leukemia, I was crushed. He’s such a sweet boy and no child should have to go through this. After watching the community come together to support the Skillman family this past year, I knew that I would have the support for a dinner.
“I checked in with Rebecca to see if she was okay with something like this as I have had great experience with community dinners and fundraisers in the past. With the okay, I set a date at the Greybull Rec Center and then started making the posters and letters stating what I was going to do. From there, I just kept gathering donations, created an event page via Facebook, and word of mouth travels far.”
Sanchez continued that she is amazed how the community has come together to support Owen. “The community has supported me in various ways since I have lived here and so I wanted to give back. Within the last week, I had other people and businesses reach out to me about donating items, and that speaks volumes. I’ve always said, it takes a village to raise a child, and so I asked our village to come together for this cause. They have done that and beyond, and other surrounding communities have contributed to it as well.”
She added that everyone donated something, whether cash or items for the silent auction. It left her awe struck, as people gave their last dollar and/or item in stock to help. “It has been a blessing to see a community come together to help someone whose life has been turned upside down. It has been an adventure, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.”
What is next for Owen? His mom said, “He will be doing chemo for the next 2 ½ - 3 years. We will also be working with a naturopath, integrative oncologist to help support his healing with nutrition and supplements. Owen’s hair should start growing back in 6-8 months.”
She and Roman thank all the donors and look forward to seeing everyone at the dinner.