InSource going blue for 4-year-old fighting cancer
The Sauer family of Clarence has a very sick 4-year-old son who is battling an extremely rare form of brain cancer -- Stage IV glioblastoma.
Ben started getting headaches in January and after multiple doctor visits, an aggressive tumor was found. Despite strong chemotherapy and radiation, his tumor has tripled in size in the past three weeks.
Yet in the face of this grim development, a legion of supporters has sprung up. Their outreach campaign to help the stricken child has garnered media attention and captured the hearts of many Western New Yorkers.
Two of those supporters happen to be InSource Healthcare Solutions President and CEO Mark Celmer and Batavia resident Melissa Mortimer-Marsocci, the firm's chief operating officer.
Mark attends the same church as the Sauers. When he told Melissa about the family's plight, she decided to do something to help and is offering blue T-shirts for sale through Insource to offset the boy's medical expenses.
“This story about Ben touched my and Mark's hearts for a number of reasons, however, a couple of them touched home personally," Mortimer-Marsocci said. "One, I am the mother of a 4-year-old, and could not imagine facing such horrifying circumstances with the possibility of my son dying. The other piece is that both Mark and I are Christians, strongly rooted in our faith, like Mindy, Ben's mom. Mindy's faith is beyond the definition of amazing.”
Her heart-wrenching blog about her family's journey was the catalyst for a campaign dubbed blue4ben (blue4ben.com). Aptly named because that is his favorite color and it is also the one his parents typically dress him in to distinguish him from his identical twin brother, Jack.
Subsequently, Web sites, Facebook pages and fundraisers have been launched.
Insource will be collecting orders for T-shirts to benefit Ben until March 28 and 10 days later, the shirts will be available for pick up at the Batavia Urgent Care Center.
They have already received a large order from Johnson Automotive, and order forms went out to students at St. Joseph's School as well.
The T-shirts are $20.95 each and can be ordered by calling (585) 250-4201. They are being produced by 26shirts.com and will also be available on their Web site until March 30.
The company sells a different limited-edition, Buffalo football-themed T-shirt every two weeks. After that two-week run is over, the design is retired and never sold again. Ben's T-shirt is the first in the series of T-shirts to be endorsed by a player -- Future Hall-of-Fame wide receiver, Andre Reed.
“A few years ago, our community lost a young boy to the battle of cancer, Michael Napoleone. As a community, we know how that feels, and what an opportunity for us to pull together in prayer and support, in hopes of a miracle for Ben,” Mortimer-Marsocci said. “Help us turn Genesee County blue for Ben.”
