LOUP CITY – The Broken Bow Lions Club will be hosting a benefit fundraiser for Ella Lou Roach, the daughter of Victoria and Austin Roach, on Saturday, April 29.
Ella is approaching her first half-year of life having been born this past November and came into the world with some unfortunate congenital heart defects. She had her first surgery in December and her second in January, with more operations inevitable.
Julie Toline of the Lions Club says that the Roach family’s travel expenses alone are nothing to sneeze at.
“She has to go to Omaha, to Children’s Hospital, so there’s a lot of expense in travel and lodging. That’s why we wanted to help them out.”
The expenses, given the two procedures in the past few months, will only continue to mount for the family throughout her first few years on earth.
The event will include a silent auction, a free-will donation supper, and a poker run. The auction and supper will be held at the Broken Bow Municipal Building at 5 p.m.; the poker run will begin with registration between 11 a.m. and noon at the Rusty Horseshoe Saloon in Loup City, kick-off at 12:15, and, Toline says, cover enough ground over the afternoon to work up an appetite for the landing in Broken Bow.
“I think they’re going to go from Loup City to Ravenna, then wrap around and come up through Oconto to Broken Bow.”
The Lions understand that it may not be possible for community members to attend any one or all of Saturday’s events, and offers other ways to help the family in need: they can donate silent auction items through the family, or write a check to the Broken Bow Lions.
Those interested in registering for the poker run should call Kattie Hald at (308) 293-0891. Questions about the benefit can be directed to the Lions’ Julie Toline at (402) 677-9323, or Joe Roach at (308) 870-1484. A flyer is attached.
