Big benefit happening today for Maddox Pearl and family

Photos by Tom Rivers

ALBION – There are more than 200 raffle items, plus 28 bigger-end items up for raffle today in a benefit for Maddox Pearl and his family.

Maddox, 5, has an incurable brain tumor. He is receiving radiation and has his treatment on Tuesday. His mother Katelyn Pearl said her son is responding well to the treatment and remains very positive.

She and her husband Ryan Pearl are very grateful for the community response to help Maddox.

“The support of the community, our friends and family have shown us we’ll never be able to repay,” Mrs. Pearl said today at the start of the benefit at Dubby’s Tailgate. “This gives us strength and hope. We are looking at every possible way to keep him happy and healthy.”

Maddox Pearl plays pinball at Dubby’s with some assistance from his grandmother Kim Achzet and aunt Riley Fitzwater.

Dubby’s on Platt Street will be hosting family fun time from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with games for children and a raffle of baskets for children. Another basket raffle and big ticket raffle will go from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a cornhole tournament from 5 to 9 p.m.

Maddox’s family and volunteers at the benefit are wearing “Full Steam Ahead” shirts with a train because Maddox loves trains, especially Thomas the Train Engine. His family is planning to take him on the Polar Express train ride in Medina this Christmas season.

Dick DeCarlo, left, and Cameron Heller get ready to flip chickens in an outdoor space by Dubby’s. The 750 chicken barbecue dinners are already sold out.

The chicken barbecue cooking team poses for a photo. Dan Monacelli organized the crew. Tom O’Hearn, Dick DeCarlo and Dusty DeCarlo also were key volunteers in the dinner.

Maureen Bennett, left, organized the basket raffle. She is shown with Annette Pearl, Maddox’s grandmother and a retired special education teacher at Albion. Bennett worked with Pearl for many years. Bennett said the benefit quickly outgrew space at the First Presbyterian Church and was moved to Dubby’s. She praised the community for donating so many raffle baskets, including the high-end items.

“This is pure love at its greatest visibility,” Annette Pearl said, looking at all the donated items and the people arriving for the benefit.

She said the Albion community is showing why it’s a great place to live in its support for Maddox and also with a benefit next Sunday for Byron Neal, 8. Byron also is facing cancer. That benefit will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Maison Albion.

“This community is supporting two children in this small town,” Pearl said. “There is something to be said about living in this small community.”

There are more than 200 items up for raffle at Dubby’s.