Benefit on Saturday will assist Lyndonville native battling stage 4 laryngeal cancer

Provided photo: Loren Strickland is shown with his wife Pam before his illness.

RIDGEWAY – Friends and family are organizing a benefit on Saturday at the Ridgeway Fire Hall for Loren Strickland, 48, who is currently in hospice care for stage 4 laryngeal cancer.

Strickland lives in Lawrence, Kansas with his wife Pam, a native of Lockport, and her two teen-age sons. They moved to Kansas about five years ago for a job opportunity.

Loren also has two daughters and a son in Lewiston. Loren’s cancer was in remission following seven weeks of radiation but returned after he was injured in a motorcycle accident. Chemotherapy has failed to slow down the cancer in its return, said Mrs. Strickland, who has been her husband’s full-time caregiver since March.

The couple recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary.

Pam’s close friends, Bridget Damon and Wendy Strong, are the lead organizers for the benefit on Saturday with help from many other family and friends.

Tickets for beef on weck dinners are $10 and there will be many baskets up for raffle, as well as bigger ticket items and 50/50 raffles. There will also be Strickland Strong T-shirts, car decals, bracelets, koozies and keychains available for purchase.

The benefit goes from 1 to 5 p.m. at the fire hall at 11392 Ridge Rd., Medina.